The multiples facets of Yvorne, its rich built heritage and preserved rural setting have contributed to the district being listed as one of Switzerland’s most beautiful villages.
Originating from the wine-making tradition and revived after a natural disaster, Yvorne is a miracle of nature. Destroyed in 1584 by an avalanche of rocks, the village was rebuilt a few metres further away, leaving behind the site of debris, where the internationally reputed vineyard has its place today. Located on a promontory, the castle of Maison-Blanche appears like a shiny lighthouse in an ocean of plants, where farmland, vineyards, forests and pastures mingle in gentle harmony.
Yvorne’s history and identity is best appreciated when arriving from the Rhone plain. In the foreground, there are lovely, colourful winegrowers’ houses. A few metres above, the church rises proudly among the vines. This noble fruit is everywhere: glorified on the district’s coats of arms, vinified in the basement of the administrative building and highlighted in a museum in the nearby castle of Aigle. For here, in the heart of the Vaudois Chablais between the Alps and Lake Geneva, the grape is king!
