Murten (the German form: French Morat) lies on a ridge of hills marking the linguistic boundary between French and German, on the southeast side of the idyllic Murtensee (Lac de Morat). This beautiful little medieval town has preserved, more completely perhaps than anywhere else in Switzerland, the old-world character derived from its many surviving buildings of the 15th-18th C. The old town is still surrounded by its circuit of walls (with a wall-walk). In 515 King Sigismund of Burgundy presented a property at Murten, on the road to Valais, to the monastery of St Maurice. In 1013 Murten was a stronghold held by King Rudolf III of Upper Burgundy. The real foundation of the town was the work of the Zähringen dynasty between 1157 and 1177. Murten's main claim to fame is the battle fought here in 1476 in which the Confederates defeated the troops of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The field of battle ranged from Cressier (572 m/1,877ft)to Greng (442 m/1,450ft), where a memorial now stands.
At the northeast end of Murten's picturesque Hauptgasse is the Berne gate (Berntor, 1777-78), a late Baroque reconstruction, with one of the oldest clocks in Switzerland (1712).
The town walls (12th-15th C.) of Murten are a remarkable example of a medieval defensive wall; access to the wall-walk is by flights of steps at the German church and the Käfigturm (Cage tower). From the walls there are fine views over the roofs of Murten.
At the western tip of Murten's old town stands the castle, built by Peter of Savoy in the 13th C. Nowadays it serves as the prefecture with open-air concerts in the courtyard in summer.
There is a one-hour round trip on the Murtensee (Lac de Morat) and trips encompassing three lakes: Murtensee, Neunburger See (Lac de Neuchâtel) and Bieler See. It is popular with water sports enthusiasts.
Of interest in Murten are the Late Gothic French church (1478-80) and the German church (1710-13). Opposite the latter is the birthplace of the writer Jeremias Gotthelf (whose real name was Albert Bitzius, a pastor, 1797-1854).
Avenches (alt. 474 m/1,555ft; pop. 2,000; bypass), a little town situated on a hill, with a medieval castle (remodeled in Renaissance style) and attractive old houses.
Avenches occupies the site of the old capital of the Helveti and the Roman town of Aventicum, which had its heyday in the first and second centuries AD, when it had a population of some 20,000; it was destroyed by the Alemanni about 260. The excavated remains of the Roman town can be seen to the east of modern Avenches: a theater (semicircular in form, with a diameter of 106 m/348ft) which could seat 10,000 spectators; the "Tornallaz", the only surviving remnant of the town's 6km/4mi circuit of walls; the remains of the Forum baths; and a 12 m/40ft high Corinthian column, probably from the Forum, known as the Cigognier from the stork's nest which formerly crowned it. The numerous finds from the site are displayed in a museum adjoining the amphitheater.
The Avenches castle houses the Musée de l'AMVANAS, a museum of the history of flight in Switzerland, with documents, models and navigational instruments.
Address: Museum of Swiss Aviation, Château d'Avenches, CH-1580 Avenches, Switzerland
The Monument to the Battle of Murten is the first attraction along a driving tour from Murten to Avenches. Leave Murten on the Lausanne road, which runs through the suburb of Meyriez and begins to climb. 2km/1mi from the middle of the town, at the junction with the bypass road (on right), is the monument to the Battle of Murten, an obelisk erected in 1823 on the site of an ossuary destroyed by the French in 1798. It commemorates the decisive victory of the Confederates over Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy on June 22, 1476.
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Avenches - Museum of Swiss Aviation
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Town Walls, Murten
Murten
