Leysin

Geschichte

Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in the Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as Leissins, in 1352 as Leisins.Located in the Vaudoises Alps, Leysin is a sunny alpine resort village at the eastern end of Lake Geneva in proximity to Montreux, Lausanne, and Geneva. In prior years, Leysin was known for its sanatoriums for tuberculosis; today its spectacular Alpine views across the Rhône Valley towards the Dents du Midi invite year-round mountain sports and recreation.The village of Leysin and hamlet of Veyges are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.GeographyLeysin has an area, of 18.57km2. Of this area, 6.48km2 or 34.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.91km2 or 37.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.43km2 or 7.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04km2 or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 3.67km2 or 19.8% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. Out of the forested land, 33.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 10.0% is pastures and 24.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 12.9% is unproductive vegetation and 6.9% is too rocky for vegetation.