Moudon

Daniel Peter was born in Moudon on 9 March 1836. In 1875 he invented milk chocolate by combining chocolate with condensed milk developed by his neighbour Henri Nestlé in Vevey. The brand Gala Peter launched in 1887, and in 1879 Peter and Nestlé formed a partnership that grew into the Nestlé company. Moudon lies at the confluence of the Broye and Mérine rivers in the heart of the Broye valley.

Moudon's Ville-Haute occupies a rocky ridge between the Broye and Mérine rivers, with houses rising as extensions of the sandstone cliffs. The Rue du Château is the oldest street, lined with arcaded houses. The Ville-Basse developed during the Savoyard period around two hospices. Originally the Celtic settlement of Minnodunum, then a Roman vicus on the road from Vevey to Avenches, Moudon has been continuously inhabited for over two thousand years.

The Château de Rochefort stands at the highest point of the Ville-Haute. Originally 14th-century merchants' houses, it was transformed into a seigneurial residence in 1595. Around 1730 a municipal belfry was added. Peter II of Savoy, known as 'Le Petit Charlemagne', established Moudon as the seat of the bailliage de Vaud around 1260, making it the administrative and judicial capital. The town received franchises in 1285.

Les Brandons de Moudon is one of the major carnivals of western Switzerland, held on the first weekend of Lent. The name comes from the German word Brand (ember). A Bernese ordinance of 1597 mentions March fires in the pagan manner. The carnival nearly died out in the 1960s but was revived in the 1980s, with the pivotal 1982 edition introducing Guggenmusiks. Eugène Burnand (1850-1921) was born at the Château de Billens in Moudon; his best-known work hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Gustave Roud (1897-1976) is the most beloved poet of Suisse romande and co-founder of modern French-language Swiss literature with Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. He lived from age 11 at a farm in Carrouge near Moudon until his death. His poetry celebrates the landscapes of the Haut-Jorat. He was also a prolific photographer with some 13,000 images. His most famous work is Air de la solitude.

Gabriel Tschumi (1882-1957) was born in Moudon and emigrated to Britain in 1899 at age 16. He became Master Chef to three British monarchs — Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and George V. His memoirs, Royal Chef (1954), recount decades of life in the royal kitchens.

The Fontaine de Moïse has an iron basin ring from 1557, with the column and statue of Moses sculpted by Laurent Perroud in 1559. The Église Saint-Étienne is the largest parish church in the canton of Vaud, known locally as the Cathédrale de la Broye. It houses the oldest functioning organ in the canton, dating from 1764. The church is a stop on the Via Jacobi, the Swiss pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.

The Maison des États du Pays de Vaud is a late-Gothic building on the Rue du Château, built around 1500, listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. As capital of the bailliage de Vaud, Moudon served as the meeting place for the États de Vaud — the assembly of nobles, clergy, and town representatives. Their tradition helped shape civic consciousness that contributed to the creation of the canton of Vaud in 1803.