In 2007, the UNESCO added Lavaux, situated between Lausanne and Montreux, to its list of World Heritage Sites. An honor and a special distinction for this majestic and extraordinary landscape - and a challenge for those in charge of preserving this site for future generations. Text Jennifer Segui
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teep flanks. Robust houses. Grey stonewalls surrounding the terraced vineyards. And opposite them, Lake Geneva and the Alps. This landscape, created by nature and refined by man, is known as Lavaux. Artists like Courbet or Vallotton captured its wonderful light; musicians found inspiration in it; Byron, Rousseau, and Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz all described the Lavaux vines – proudly aligned in straight rows between the water and the skies. This spot between Lausanne and Montreux is unique in its kind, worldwide. Visiting it will confirm this; meeting its inhabitants will leave no more room for doubt. In 2007, the UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, added the Lavaux to its World Heritage list that today, comprises sites such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Yellow Stone Park in the U.S., or closer to home, Bern’s old part of town. Lavaux, however, is not destined to become an open-air museum. On the contrary: given its exceptional character and its interest for mankind, Lavaux is to share its many treasures. According to Emmanuel Estoppey from the Intermunicipal Committee of Lavaux, the CIL: «Lavaux was not listed as a World Heritage
Photo Germaine Martin, coll. du Musée historique de Lausanne©héritiers G. Martin
ESCO Site to promote tourism but to guarantee that the site’s value be maintained, emphasized and reflected upon.» Preserving the harmony of this site and simultaneously modernizing in order to remain competitive is no simple feat for the winegrowers. However, it is necessary in view of guaranteeing the future of this landscape where Chasselas grapes have been cultivated since the 11th century. This grape variety is grown practically exclusively in Switzerland and it alone accounts for 70% of the overall Lavaux production, spanning a total of 800 hectares. Today, approx. 200 winegrowers cultivate the vineyards. Just like their ancestors – some families have been here for 17 generations – they have continued to adapt and tend to the landscape where they live and grow wine. Lavaux is referred to as the «Land of the Three Suns», i.e. the sun of the sky, the sun of the lake, and the sun of the stone walls that store the warmth and allow for the grapes to grow. Maintaining a natural landscape – transformed into a cultural landscape by man; celebrating winegrowing; respecting the past to build the
future; signposting the borders to ensure that discovering the region be easy – these are only some of the missions of the site’s manager. This summer, the project «Lavaux in scenes» will be launched on the Internet. It is to explain in a playful and simple manner the cultural variety of Lavaux (its history, architecture, literature, and other arts). As of 2013, corresponding guidebooks will also be made available, with hiking suggestions and a myriad of further useful information. In addition, a Smartphone application will also be developed. Since the fall of 2010, guides have been trained to take visitors on topical tours of the region. Moreover, the vineyards of the Lavaux are also part of the European ViTour project uniting ten World Heritage wine-growing regions, e.g. the Montalcino in Italy or the Val de Loire in France, thus ensuring exchange on architecture, winegrowing, and touristic development. After all, for as long as there will be wine, there will be Lavaux. And for as long as there will be Lavaux, humankind will have a further treasure to enjoy.
How to get there ? Take the highway exit Belmont Lutry or Chexbres Vevey. By train, on the Simplon track: train stations Lutry, Villette, Cully, Epesses, Rivaz, St-Saphorin. On the Bern route: train stations Grandvaux, Puidoux-Chexbres, Vevey-Chexbres (vineyard trains)
Hiking trails Several paths and trails lead from the villages to the vineyards. A wonderful trail is the “randonnée des trois soleils” (“Path of the Three Suns”). For more information on it, enter “Lavaux” into the search engine on the www.myswitzerland.ch site. For additional information: Montreux-Vevey tourist office, tel. +41 (0) 848 86 84 84 www.montreuxriviera.com www.lavaux-unesco.ch www.lavaux.ch
REGARDS PRINTEMPS - ÉTÉ 2012
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