History of Verbier
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Verbier was pretty much a haven for cows until the mid 1900s.
Originally Roman, the area of the present day canton of Valais in which Verbier is located switched hands frequently.
Overlooking the Val de Bagnes, you can still see remnants of the Verbier Castle which belonged to the duchy of Savoy but was destroyed in the Battle of La Planta in 1475 during the War of the Burgunds between the duchy of Savoy and the Swiss Confederates and the Upper Valais.
Valais finally became a canton in the Swiss Confederation in 1815.
It wasn't until the mid 1920s that the first skiers skied Verbier (without the benefit of today's extensive lift system). The first lift was only built in 1946, but it was only a very primitive sled-on-rope style lift carrying skiers 250m up the hill. The Attelas cable car was built in 1957, but it was until the 1960s that Verbier really started to explode as a ski town.Timeline
888: The area was part of the Jurane Burgundy
999: King Rudolphe III of Burgundy gave the area to the Bishop of Sion (Count of Valais)
1475: Verbier castle is destroyed in the Battle of La Planta
1529: The Swiss canton of Valais becomes an associate member of the Swiss Confederation
1628: Valais became a republic under the prince-bishop of Sion and the "bailli"
1686: old Verbier village chapel built
1798: Napoleon invaded the Valais and declared the canton a Revolutionary Republic and then incorporated into the Helvetic Republic
1802: Valais became the Rhodanic Republic
1810: The Rhodanic Republic became the department of Simplon
1813: Independence
1815: Valais became a canton in the Swiss Confederation
1866: "new" Verbier village chapel built
1925: First skiers skied Verbier
1928: Verbier's population was a grand total of 3!
1933: Swiss Ski School was founded
1933: Verbier's first hotel, Sport Hotel, opened
1946: First ski lift (pretty primitive sled-on-a-rope style lift)
1957: Attelas cable car opened
1960s: Verbier came into its own as a ski village in the 1960s
1962: Church which dominates the village was built
1993: The first Verbier Festival (see Events)Header...