Vevey, town (1990 pop. 15,968), Vaud canton, W Switzerland, on the Lake of Geneva. It is a popular tourist resort. Various goods are manufactured, including chocolate, leather goods, and wood products. It is the site of a major wine festival.

Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva., not far from Lausanne. It was historically known as Viviscus or Vibiscum. It was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Ptolemy, who gave it the name Ouikos.

It is the seat of the district of the same name. It is part of the French-speaking area of Switzerland.

It is bordered on the west by the River Veveyse and to the east by the River Oyonnaz.

Vevey is the site of the world headquarters (but not fiscal HQ) of the food giant Nestlé, founded here in 1867.

Some of the notable people who lived in Vevey have been:

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss writer and philosopher
• Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter
• Bruno Hoffmann, German glass harp player
• Victor Hugo, French poet and writer
• Percy Scholes, English musician and writer
• Graham Greene, British writer (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
• Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist
• Edouard Jeanneret Le Corbusier, Swiss architect
• Charlie Chaplin, British director and actor (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
• James Mason, actor, (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
• Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer
• Henri Nestlé, founder of Nestlé
• Edmund Ludlow, general and politician in Oliver Cromwell's government and enemy of King Charles I
• Thabo Sefolosha, basketball player for the Chicago Bulls
• Peter Cowie, film historian
• Claude Nicollier, first Swiss astronaut
• Henry Philip Tappan, first President of the University of Michigan
• Olga Baclanova, Russian-born actress.
• Clara Haskil, Swiss Romanian classical pianist

The Confrérie des Vignerons (Brotherhood of Winegrowers) organises the Winegrowers' Festival (Fête des Vignerons) four or five times each century (one per generation) to celebrate its wine-growing traditions and culture. On those occasions an arena for 16,000 spectators is built in the marketplace — the Grande Place, which is the second-biggest marketplace in Europe, after Lisbon, Portugal). The festivals date from the 18th century; the last five were in 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977 and 1999.

The Grande Place is dominated by a magnificent granary "La Grenette" built in 1803 in the Neo-Classical "rustic" style. Behind "La Grenette" can be seen the restaurant ("La Clef") in which Jean-Jacques Rousseau used to eat. The table at which he sat is still to be seen in the restaurant.

St Martin's Church The church, a few minutes' walk away from the Grande Place, contains the bodies of a number of those who condemned King Charles I of England to death - especially that of Edmund Ludlow who escaped to Vevey after the death of Oliver Cromwell.

Also adding to Vevey's notoriety is its importance in Henry James' novel Daisy Miller. Vevey is the setting in which the two main characters, Frederick Winterbourne and Daisy Miller first meet.

Market

The town is also known for its large market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. The summer edition known as the Marchés Folkloriques which are very popular and have up to 2'000 visitors each Saturday over a period of 8 Saturdays. (Second week of July to end August) Visitors can buy a wine-glass and drink to their heart's content while listening to brassbands, Swiss folk music and watching traditional craftsmen at work. These Folk Markets are organised by the Société de développement de Vevey. (www.sdvevey.ch)

External links

• Vevey.ch