Pully –  a small commune neighboring Lausanne, with breathtaking views and picturesque vineyards.

In the early centuries of our era, Pully experienced a fate emblematic of the evolution of settlements during that time.

Between the 1st and 2nd centuries, a wealthy Gallo-Roman individual created or expanded a large agricultural estate, known in Latin as a villa, and named it after himself. One of his successors converted to Christianity in the 5th century AD and established a small oratory in which he and his family were buried. A generation or two later, the estate’s owner acquired relics of a saint and transformed the oratory into a church, which eventually became a parish church. Over the centuries, the estate evolved into a village. This is what happened in Pully, and it’s a pattern observed in many Vaudois localities.

However, Pully also has a unique history. While several Gallo-Roman villae became villages, and some former Roman secondary towns evolved into contemporary cities, Pully lost its village status to become a city in recent decades. This phenomenon is likely due to its location on the shores of Lake Geneva, which has witnessed extraordinary urban development, and its proximity to the capital of Vaud, which has exerted additional demographic pressure on Pully. A similar transformation has occurred in the neighboring town of Renens, which has also become a city.

In a more distant past, Pully experienced a unique destiny starting in the 5th century AD. It housed a community of Burgundians by the mid-5th century and later became the property of the famous Abbey of St. Maurice d’Agaune in the 10th century. Pully’s parish church also has an intriguing feature that warrants exploration: it has two patron saints instead of just one. These distinctive traits deserve further examination.

The name

The origin of the name Pully is clear. In Latin, the name of the municipality consists of the name of an individual, Pollius, Pullius, or Pulius, to which the suffix -acum was added. Pully derives from Pulliacum. The name is undeniably Roman, while the suffix is Celtic. The territory of the Helvetii was annexed by the Roman Empire in the late 1st century BC. In the first two centuries of our era, the Helvetii Romanized and adopted Latin names. However, the Celtic language remained sufficiently alive to influence the Latin spoken in the region between the Alps and the Jura Mountains. In the Roman world, a property was named after its owner with the suffix -anum at the end of the word, while in strongly Celtic regions, the local suffix remained Celtic, -acum. Both suffixes mean “property of.” In the present-day Vaud region, both suffix forms coexisted during the early centuries of the Roman era. Nyon is a Roman colony, settled by former soldiers who quickly imposed the Latin language. Hence, in the vicinity of Nyon, the -anum suffix is prevalent. It evolved into the ending -ins found in place names like Bursins, Luins, Coinsins, Givrins, Gingins, Begnins. The -acum suffix is evident in the rest of the canton, evolving into -y or -ier. It is present in the names of numerous localities, including Pully, as well as Lutry, Cully, Bussigny, Lavigny, Lussy, Lully, or Crassier, Crissier, Corsier, and many more commune names.

The Roman villa in Pully has been well-studied, with excavations revealing a significant portion of the house where the owner and his family lived. However, as of today, archaeology has not uncovered the rural part of the estate where laborers, craftsmen, slaves, and livestock resided. This can be explained by the fact that the agricultural operation of a Roman estate left few archaeological traces since it mainly consisted of earth and wooden structures. The luxurious residence, on the other hand, was built with durable materials and featured various Roman construction techniques, including columns, mosaics, basins, underfloor heating, water supply, and drainage systems.

The Golden Age

In Pully, the first villa was built in the 1st century AD. It was expanded and transformed in the 2nd century into a magnificent patrician mansion equipped with all the Roman luxuries of the time: thermal complex, pools, fountains, and porticos. This splendid residence, whose remains can still be visited, was characterized by remarkably well-preserved wall paintings. It occupied the entire terrace of the priory and offered stunning views of Lake Geneva. The architects made the most of the site, ensuring that the owners could admire the vast panorama of the lake. The sumptuous mansion of the 2nd century was likely the creation of the wealthy Helvetian who became Roman and was named Pollius, Pullius, or Pulius.

The decline of Pully

Starting in the 3rd century, the wealthy Gallo-Romans in the present-day Swiss Plateau saw their estate revenues decline due to political instability, a severe economic crisis, and incursions by Germanic tribes into Gaul, particularly in regions near the Rhine frontier. A small hoard of coins found in the Pully villa might testify to this insecurity. A collection of coins placed in a container was discovered in a part of the villa that had suffered a fire. The event could be dated to the years 236-238 AD. It is not possible to precisely associate this fire with a known episode of raiding expeditions, mainly led by the Alamanni in this region.

However, it is possible that this destruction is linked to the insecurity prevalent in the 3rd century AD. In any case, it is certain that the Swiss Plateau experienced a particularly violent incursion in the years 275-277. The Alamanni plundered and destroyed two significant towns, Augst and Aventicum (Avenches). They then descended towards Lake Geneva, appeared to pass through Lausanne and Nyon, failed in their attempt to capture Geneva, and moved towards the Valais. Near the Saint-Maurice Pass, they encountered a Roman army that routed them. Nevertheless, the capital of the Helvetii struggled to recover, and Aventicum appears to have temporarily lost its status as a political, administrative, and legal center. The Swiss Plateau was divided between the two neighboring cities, Martigny in Valais taking control of the eastern half of the Plateau up to the Venoge River and also Avenches, while Geneva extended its influence up to the right bank of the Venoge and at least as far as Solothurn. Consequently, Pully temporarily came under the administrative and later religious control of Valais.

The villa was not abandoned but continued to be partially occupied. The luxury of the past became a distant memory. At the very end of the 4th century or the beginning of the 5th, the estate’s owners or stewards converted to Christianity. They constructed a building to accommodate deceased family members. As the thermal complex had been abandoned, they erected this first small funerary chapel there, which was later transformed into a church in the following decades. This first church could not be precisely dated by archaeology, but it is certain that it predates the 10th century. It is possible to hypothesize that it already existed in the 6th century AD. The current church perpetuates the location of this first church, on the remains of which several religious buildings were built over the centuries. This continuity was not uncommon: until the Reformation, it was not feasible to move a church consecrated by a bishop, and the vast majority of early Christian places of worship persisted, with new churches replacing the older ones at the same location.

Saint Germain and the Burgundians

As far as medieval sources allow us to trace, the church in Pully had two patron saints, Saint Germain and Saint Maurice. Pully stands out, as most places of worship were dedicated to either a single saint or saintess. It is likely that Germain was the first patron of Pully. Germain was a remarkable bishop of Auxerre from 418 to 448 AD. Around the year 480, a literate priest from Lyon named Constance wrote a biography of Saint Germain that enjoyed considerable success. During the late 5th century and the 6th century, Saint Germain became increasingly popular, and his relics spread throughout Gaul. A relic was needed to establish a church. During those times, it did not necessarily have to be a fragment of the saint’s body; a precious fabric that had come into contact with the corpse was sufficient to create a relic. Many churches were dedicated to Germain in the late 5th century and during the 6th century. In the present canton of Vaud, Saint Germain was the patron saint of the parish churches in Orbe, Lonay, Bussigny, and Assens. The first three are very old, built, like Pully, on a Roman-era site. The date of the Assens church is harder to determine, but there is no reason to assume it does not also date to the 6th century AD. Generally, parish churches are very ancient. In the diocese of Lausanne, one can count on one hand those that were created after the 11th century AD. Moreover, in the centuries following the 6th century, the Bishop of Auxerre fell out of favor in favor of other saints and saintesses. It is therefore highly probable that Pully’s patronage dates back to the late 5th century or the 6th century AD. Consequently, the first church established amidst the ruins of the Pully villa likely dates from that period.

On the Swiss Plateau, antiquity ended in 443 AD with the settlement of the Germanic Burgundian people. At the behest of Rome, this federated people established themselves in the Geneva region, which encompassed Upper Savoy, part of the Ain department, and the western half of the Swiss Plateau. The objective was to block the route for the formidable Alamanni who, regularly crossing the Rhine, traversed either the Plateau or the Doubs valley to plunder the rich Rhône Valley downstream.

The first Burgundian kings settled in Geneva and expanded their kingdom, often peacefully, taking advantage of the decline of the Western Roman Empire, which completely disappeared in 476 AD. Already in 457 AD, the Burgundians conquered the Valais. Thus, Pully fell under their sway. It is likely that a small Burgundian community settled in part of the estate at this time. Excavations in the burial ground along the Davel road in Pully have shown the presence of the Burgundians in Pully. Characteristic fibulas and the probable presence of one or two individuals with artificially deformed skulls are undeniable signs of the presence of members of this people in Pully soon after their arrival on the Plateau.

The Burgundians lived off part of the taxes levied on the indigenous population. The kings mainly established them on the shores of Lake Geneva rather than inland, possibly to be able to mobilize them quickly. The most characteristic sites are, in the canton of Vaud, Nyon-Clémenty, Dully, Saint-Prex, Saint-Sulpice, Pully, and Yverdon. It is unclear what criteria were used to select the properties where Burgundian garrisons and their families settled. Were these domains owned by the state treasury and handed over to the Burgundian kings? Or were they properties of individuals who opposed their arrival and were requisitioned by the kings? We do not know.

Pully: the time of Saint Maurice

Around 500, the county and bishopric of the Helvetii were recreated by the Burgundian kings. From then on, Pully was located within the territory of Avenches and later Lausanne, which replaced the ancient Roman capital around 590 AD. Pully has remained there to this day, as the canton of Vaud is the institutional heir to the Diocese of Lausanne, the capital of the pagus waldensis, the Pays de Vaud. The Franks overthrew the Burgundians and annexed their kingdom in 534 AD.

From then on, the Plateau belonged to the domain of the Merovingians, the descendants of the Frankish king Clovis. This Merovingian empire fell into the hands of the Carolingians in 751 AD.

Weakened, the Carolingian world then fragmented into many entities. In 888 AD, Duke Rudolph established a kingdom between the Alps and the Jura, which became known as the Second Kingdom of Burgundy. It lasted until 1032 AD. In 994 AD, the last king of this dynasty, Rudolph III, granted Pully to the canons of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune. This donation implies that Pully was the property of the royal treasury until 994 AD. This treasury consisted of the inheritances of the powers that preceded the Rodolphian dynasty and some recent acquisitions and confiscations. Thus, Pully did not belong to private individuals but to the state, perhaps as early as the 5th century and certainly in the 10th century.

In 1018, the same King Rudolph III restored “half of Pully” to the monastery of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune. For reasons that elude us, the domain had returned to the king between 994 and 1018. It is probably shortly after this second donation that the first church of Pully was replaced by a larger one. Archaeologists indeed date this new church to the 11th-12th centuries. It is also likely that it was at this time that the church of Pully acquired a second patron and became a place of worship dedicated to Saint Maurice and Saint Germain. The canons of the Saint-Maurice monastery were accustomed to placing the churches in their possession under the protection of their patron saint, so they probably added Maurice to Germain, who already existed.

Payerne

The supposed testament of Queen Bertha, dating from 965 AD, claims that the Abbey of Payerne had possessed Pully since the 10th century. However, it is a forgery from the 12th century fabricated by the monks of Payerne to assert the independence of their house from their mother house in Cluny and to secure their possession of the domains they exploited. The text only allows us to assert that by the 12th century, when it was written, Payerne had significant rights over Pully. It is impossible to know since when this monastery, founded at the end of the 10th century, controlled this parish. It is possible that Rudolph III offered the other half of Pully to Payerne at the time he endowed Saint-Maurice d’Agaune. It is also possible that Payerne took control of the domain belonging to Saint-Maurice a few years after Rudolph III’s donation. But these are only hypotheses. What remains is that by 1018, the heart of Pully probably already existed, with its church flanked by a manor house that would become a priory of Payerne. It was surrounded by houses made of earth and wood, where the historic center of the town now stands and where the people who worked this large agricultural estate once lived.

Pully’s historical journey from the Early Modern period to the Modern era

In 1536, Pully fell under the jurisdiction of the cities of Bern and Lausanne. Lausanne relinquished its rights in 1717. From 1536 to 1798, it was part of the Bailiwick of Lausanne, and then from 1798 to 2006, it was located within the Lausanne district. The Le Prieuré building originally served as the priory court for the Priory of Payerne and, during the Bernese rule, functioned as a wine cellar and vineyard house.

The original parish church was likely dedicated to St. Maurice in the 9th century. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, it underwent reconstruction and was rededicated to St. Germann. Unfortunately, it suffered a devastating fire in 2001 but was subsequently rebuilt in 2004. Following the Reformation, the parish also encompassed Paudex and Belmont, which gained independence in 1897. The parsonage was constructed in 1594 and later rebuilt in 1723. Furthermore, the Chamblandes church was established in 1938, the La Rosiaz church in 1953, and the Catholic Parish of St. Mauritius was established in 1954.

Famous people of Pully

• René Auberjonois (1872–1957), a Swiss post-impressionist painter, resided in Pully from 1929 to 1934.
• Henri Guisan (1874–1960), a General of the Swiss Army during World War II, made Pully his home until his passing.
• Rodolphe Archibald Reiss (1875–1929), a criminologist, lived in Pully in a residence constructed for him by Alphonse Laverrière.
• Jeanne de Vietinghoff (1875–1926), a Belgian writer and friend of Marguerite Yourcenar’s mother, resided in Pully.
• Émile-Robert Blanchet (1877–1943), a Swiss pianist and composer who primarily spoke French, lived in Pully.
• Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947), a writer, called Pully his home until his demise.
• Jascha Horenstein (1898–1973), an American orchestra conductor, resided in Pully from 1959 until his passing.
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927–2016), the King of Thailand, intermittently lived in Pully between 1933 and 1951.
• Asa Lanova (1933–2017), a Swiss dancer and Suisse Romande author, called Pully her home.
• Édouard Chambost (1942–2009), a lawyer and writer, had his residence in Pully.
• Pierre du Bois de Dunilac (1943–2007), a writer, political scientist, and humanist, lived in Pully.
• François Hollande (born 1954), who served as the President of France from 2012 to 2017, visited Pully during his childhood family vacations.
• Luc Recordon (born 1955), a Swiss politician, hails from Pully.
• Marianne Schmid Mast (born ca. 1975), a Professor of Organizational Behavior at HEC Lausanne, currently resides in Pully.
• Alexandra Nereïev (born 1976), a French painter, sculptor, jewelry-maker, and writer, makes her home in Pully.