Sierre

Sister cities

• Saint-Étienne
• Zelzate
• Schwarzenbek
• Delfzijl
• Aubenas
• Cesenatico

History

Sierre was first mentioned around 800 as Sidrium, though a 12th-century document refers to the village being founded in 515. In 1179 it was mentioned as Sirro and in 1393 as Syder. The area around the modern town, especially Gerunden hill, was settled very early. Archeological sites on the Gerunden hill have produced neolithic objects and grave goods (including a polished stone ax), Bronze Age weapons and jewelry, Early Iron Age objects, and Roman era inscriptions, jars, jewelry, and coins. A soapstone pot from the Early Middle Ages and a gold signet ring with the name Graifarius from the 6th century have also been found. Other sites on nearby hills and near the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the Château de Villa, the churches of Sainte-Croix, Grands-Prés, Muraz, Glarey and Bernunes have yielded up graves originating from the Bronze Age to the Carolingian era. In Grands-Prés there is a fire pit from the beginning of the Late Iron Age (5th–6th century BC). During the Roman era it appears that there was no major population center, but rather several scattered groupings of separate, upper-class dwellings. Under the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the remains of a Roman-era house or estate have been discovered. Other Roman ruins have been found near the Château de Villa, in the church of Sainte-Croix (small terraced bath), in Grands-Prés by Muraz another house and in Gerunden the remains of buttress reinforced masonry indicate that a public or government building once stood there. Five altars were found in Saint-Ginier, along with another two in the scattered settlements, one of which was dedicated to Mercury. During the early imperial period, the duumvir or mayor of the Civitas Vallensium, Caius Cominus Chiu, lived in Sierre. In the late imperial period, the family of the…

Geography

Sierre has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 21.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 34.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 6.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 3.1% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 5.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 10.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.4%. Out of the forested land, 18.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.9% is used for growing crops and 2.5% is pastures, while 25.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.3% is in lakes and 5.5% is in rivers and streams.

Most-observed species

• False-acacia

  Robinia pseudoacacia L. · Magnoliopsida
  6,096
• Canadian Goldenrod

  Solidago canadensis L. · Magnoliopsida
  3,951
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  3,865
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,287
• red deer

  Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  3,227
• Warty Cabbage

  Bunias orientalis L. · Magnoliopsida
  3,159
• Swiss Brassy Ringlet

  Erebia tyndarus Esper, 1777 · Insecta
  2,794
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  2,648

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 4.1 — 2021-10-05
  10 km SSW of Evolène, Switzerland