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'Lausanne' (pronounced ) is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: ''Lac Léman''), and facing Évian-les-Bains (France) and with the Jura mountains to its north. Lausanne is located some 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Geneva. It is the capital of the canton of Vaud and of the district of Lausanne. The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee are located in Lausanne. It lies in the middle of a wine-making region.

Contents

History

Geography

Transport

Public transport

Roadways

Education

Culture

Museums

Music

Sports

Notable people

Photos of Lausanne

See also

External links

History

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The Romans built a military camp, which they called ''Lousanna'', at the site of a Celtic settlement, near the lake where currently are Vidy and Ouchy; on the hill above was a fort called 'Lausodunon' or 'Lousodunon' (The 'y' suffix is common to many place names of Roman origin in the region (e.g.) Prilly, Pully, Lutry, etc).
After the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current center, a hilly, easier to defend site. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy and the Bishop of Lausanne. Then it came under Berne from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them. During the Napoleonic Wars, its status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, Vaud under which it joined the Swiss Federation. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the industrial district of Renens and transforming the local diet. The city has been traditionally quiet but in the late 1960s and early 1970s there were a series of mainly youth demonstrations confronted by the police that gave rise to the motto 'Lausanne bouge' (Lausanne is getting animated). In a rare showmanship of anti-authoritarianism, the youth responded by ascribing to the word ''flic'' (literally "cop") the term, Fédération Lausannoise des Imbéciles Casqués (Lausanne Federation of Helmeted Imbeciles). The next vigorous demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices and since then the city has returned to its very sleepy self. By the 1990s, it supposedly had one of the highest rates of AIDS in Europe.
A surprising decision for the city housing the IOC is that in a 1992 referendum, its citizens rejected holding the Winter Olympic Games. The dignitaries of the city were so convinced that the vote would be 'yes' that they had prepared a champagne celebration.

Geography

The most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva (''Lac Léman'' in French). Lausanne is built on the southern slope of the Swiss plateau, with a difference in elevation of about 500 meters (1,600 ft) between the lakeshore at 'Ouchy' and its northern edge bordering Le Mont-sur-Lausanne and Epalinges. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake.
In addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the center of the city is the site of an ancient river 'Flon', which has been covered since the 19th century. The former river forms a gorge running through the middle of the city south of the old city centre, generally following the course of the present ''Rue Centrale'', with several bridges crossing the depression to connect the adjacent neighborhoods. Due to the large differences in elevation, visitors should make a note as to which plane of elevation they are on and where they want to go, lest they find themselves tens of meters below or above the street which they are trying to travel on. The name ''Flon'' is also used for the Metro station located in the gorge.
Lausanne is located at the limit between the extensive wine-growing regions of Lavaux (to the east) and la Côte (to the west).
The population of the greater Lausanne area (''grand Lausanne'') is about 250,000 (2005 est.).

Transport

Main articles: Lausanne Metro

Public transport

Public transport in Lausanne includes buses and metros (operated by TL ), nationwide and regional train lines (CFF, LEB ), and boats (CGN ). The majority of urban public transport in Lausanne is by trolleybus.
Lausanne will become the first city in Switzerland to have a rubber-tyred metro system, with the m2 Line which will open in 2008. The rolling stock will be a shorter version of the one used on Paris Métro Line 14.

Roadways

Lausanne is connected to the A1 motorway on its east side (Geneva - Zurich axis) and to the A9 on its north and east side (transit with Italy and France), the forking point between these two motorways being at the north-west side of the city.

Education

Lausanne enjoys some world class higher education establishements.

★ École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL (''Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne'')

★ University of Lausanne (''Université de Lausanne'')

★ Institut de hautes études en administration publique (IDHEAP) (''Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration'')

★ International Institute for Management Development (''IMD'')

★ École hôtelière de Lausanne

★ Conservatoire de Lausanne

Culture

The Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne provide a diverse and rich musical life. The latter has been under the direction of Michel Corboz for many years.
In January, the Prix de Lausanne, the famous dance competition takes place at the Théâtre de Beaulieu over a one-week period. The event attracts dancers and some of the big names in dance from all over the world.
Each July, the ''"Festival de la Cité"'' (city festival) is held in the old part of town. There are also film and music festivals, such as the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival and the Bach Festival, ''"Le Festival et Concours Bach de Lausanne"'', which follows ''"La Nuit de Musées"'' (museum's night) in the fall season.
Lausanne is also the home of the Béjart Ballet.

Museums

Lausanne is also the site of many museums:

★ Musée Olympique Lausanne (''Olympic Museum'')

★ Musée de l'Elysée (''Elysée Museum'')

★ Fondation de l'Hermitage (''Hermitage Foundation'')

★ The Collection de l'Art Brut (''Art Brut'' Collection)

★ mudac (''Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains'')

★ Musée Historique de Lausanne (''Lausanne Historical Museum'')

★ Cabinet des Médailles cantonal

★ Espace Arlaud

★ Espace des Inventions (''Science Center for Kids'')

★ Fondation Claude Verdan - Musée de la main (''Museum of the Hand'')

★ Vivarium de Lausanne

★ Musée cantonal d'Archéologie et d'Histoire (''Cantonal Museum of Archeology and History'')

★ Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts (''Cantonal Fine Arts Museum'')

★ Musée cantonal de Géologie (''Cantonal Geological Museum'')

★ Notre Dame de Lausanne, restaured by viollet-le-Duc.

★ Musée romain de Lausanne-Vidy (''Lausanne-Vidy Roman Museum'')

Music

★ Contemporary composer Leonardo Balada's Symphony No. 4 is subtitled 'Lausanne'.

★ Le RomandieLe Romandie, live local and international bands. Mostly rock'n roll.

★ Les DocksLes Docks, live local and international bands.

Sports

Sporting activities are very popular in Lausanne, with water sports available on the nearby lake and mountaineering in the nearby mountains. Cycling is also a popular pastime, with the vineyards in the surrounding hills providing spectacular views and challenging routes. There is an annual athletic contest (''Athletissima'' ), road running through the city (the ''20 km de Lausanne'' ), the Tour de Romandie road cycling race, marathon (website) and triathlon competition, among other sports events. The two most important sports are Football (soccer) and Ice Hockey.

★ International Olympic Committee Headquarters (official website)

★ International Table Tennis Federation Headquarters (official website)

★ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) The World Air Sports Federation (official website)

★ Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) The international governing body for equestrian (official website)

★ Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron (FISA) The international governing body for rowing (official website)

★ Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) The international governing body for fencing (official website)

★ Lausanne-Sports Aviron Rowing Club (official website )

★ Lausanne-Sport Football Club (official website )

★ Lausanne Hockey Club (LHC) (official website )

★ Lausanne-Morges Basket (LMB) (official website )

★ Lausanne-Ville / Prilly Basket (official website )

★ Lausanne Indians Baseball (official website )

★ International Baseball Federation (official website)

★ International Swimming Federation (official website)

★ International Skating Union (official website)

Notable people

Lausanne is the birthplace of:

★ Umberto Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur

★ David Bennent, Actor

★ Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh, Russian Orthodox ecclestiastic located in Britain

★ François-Louis David Bocion, Swiss artist and teacher

★ Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Swiss traveller and orientalist

★ Alejo Carpentier, Cuban-French writer

★ Stéphane Chapuisat, Footballer

★ Benjamin Constant, Swiss thinker, writer and French politician

★ Aloise Corbaz, Swiss outsider artist

★ Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician

★ Charles Dutoit, conductor

★ Egon von Furstenberg, fashion designer

★ Eugène Grasset, Swiss decorative artist

★ Bertrand Piccard, Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist

★ Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer

★ Ubol Ratana, Thai princess

★ Théophile Steinlen, Art Nouveau painter and printmaker

★ Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler), British painter

★ Bernard Tschumi, contemporary architect, writer, and educator

★ Félix Vallotton, post-impressionist painter
Notable residents:

★ Jean Anouilh, French dramatist

★ Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA

★ Alice Bailly, Swiss painter and multimedia artist

★ Maurice Béjart, choreographer

★ Capucine, French actress and model

★ Coco Chanel, fashion designer

★ Pierre de Coubertin, French baron and IOC founder

★ Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg, queen of Spain

★ Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweller

★ Edward Gibbon, British historian

★ Oswald Heer, Swiss geologist and naturalist

★ Stéphane Lambiel, men's figure skater and 2-time World Champion

★ Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, Finnish president and field marshal

★ James Mason, English actor

★ Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, Ukrainian bacteriologist

★ Paloma Picasso, Fashion designer

★ Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer

★ Albin Schram, Renowned manuscript collector

★ Georges Simenon, Belgian writer

★ Han Suyin, China-born writer

★ Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer

★ Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect

★ Pierre Viret, Swiss reformed theologian

★ Serge Voronoff, Surgeon buried in Lausanne

Photos of Lausanne

Photos of Lausanne, taken in June 2001:

See also

★ Eurovision Song Contest 1989

★ List of mayors of Lausanne

★ Franco-Provençal language

★ Scots Kirk, Lausanne (Church of Scotland)

External links

★ City of Lausanne, official site

★ The official tourism homepage of Lausanne

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★ Lucadea.com - Many images from Lausanne

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