Morges

Sister cities

• Rochefort
• Vertou

History

Morges is first mentioned in 1288 as Morgia. It was known by its German name Morsee though that name is no longer used. About a hundred meters (yards) further north is the village of Vers-l'Église. The first settlement here dates back to the Neolithic, based on a layer of ceramic objects that date from between 2900 BC and 2700 BC. It remained occupied through the Late Bronze Age. During the Middle Ages, Morges was a seasonal residence of the court of Savoy and the seat of a bailiff. The city was ruled as a single fief, and the residents were taxed according to their frontage or the width of their property along the street. The city was laid out like many neighboring Zähringer towns. There were two wide longitudinal streets that could be used for markets and fairs. A third, parallel road was added due to the rapid expansion of Morges. A rectangular plaza was created for the weekly market. Due to the shape of the streets and the frontage tax, most of the plots are long and narrow. Most of the houses have courtyards for light and ventilation and some are also equipped with spiral staircases and arbors. The religious institutions and their related educational institutions and parish houses as well as a hospital and the college were in the northern half of the town near the church. Workshops developed in the southern half of the city, around the harbor and the marketplace. There were also the covered markets, the granary, the slaughterhouse and important inns in the southern half. The most significant of the inns was the Auberge de la Croix Blanche at Grande-Rue 70-72 which was given a late Gothic facade around 1550. During the early modern era, Morges was very prosperous. A number of large civic and private buildings were built during this time. They include Bern's…

Geography

Morges has an area, , of . Of this area, or 21.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 4.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 73.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.0% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 19.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 9.4%. Out of the forested land, 3.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.8% is used for growing crops and 2.1% is pastures, while 12.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.5% is in lakes and 0.5% is in rivers and streams. The municipality is the capital of the district. It is located south-west of Lausanne along a bay in Lake Geneva.

Most-observed species

• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  7,751
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  4,733
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,139
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  3,909
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  3,325
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  2,968
• Common Toad

  Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Amphibia
  2,188
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,166

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-01-12
  4 km SSW of Les Houches, France
• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-09
  9 km SW of Evolène, Switzerland
• M 3.3 — 2022-09-25
  7 km ESE of Ar?ches-la-Frasse, France
• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.5 — 2022-03-12
  3 km S of Faverges, France