LAUSANNE, the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud. It is the junction of the railway lines from Geneva, from Brig and the Simplon, from Fribourg and Berne, and from Vallorbe (for Paris). A funicular railway connects the upper town with the central railway station and with Ouchy, the port of Lausanne on the lake of Geneva. Lausanne takes its name from the Flon stream flowing through it, which was formerly called Laus (water). The older or upper portion of the town is built on the crest and slopes of five hillocks which form part of the Jorat range.
The original town (mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary) was on the shore of the lake, south-west of the present city. It was burnt in the 4th century by the Alamanni. Some of the inhabit ants took refuge in the hills above and there founded a new town, which acquired more importance when Bishop Marius about 590 chose it as his see city. Across the Flon was a Burgundian settle ment, later known as the Bourg, while to the west was a third colony around the church of St. Laurent. These three elements joined together to form the present city. The bishops obtained gradually great temporal powers, becoming in 1125 princes of the empire. But in 1368 the bishop was forced to recognize various liberties and customs that had been gradually won by the citizens, the Plaid General of that year showing that there was already some kind of municipal government, save for the cite, which was not united with the vale inferieure or the other four quartiers (Bourg, St. Laurent, La Palud and Le Pont) in 1481. In 1536 the territory of the bishop (as well as the Savoyard barony of Vaud) was forcibly conquered by the Bernese, who at once introduced Protestantism. The Bernese occupation lasted till 1798, when Lausanne became a simple prefecture of the can ton Leman of the Helvetic republic. But in 1803, on the creation of the canton of Vaud, it became its capital. The bishop of Lausanne resided after 1663 at Fribourg, while from 1821 onwards he added "and of Geneva" to his title.
The railways were built between 1856 and 1862, while the opening of the Simplon tunnel (1906) greatly increased the com mercial importance of Lausanne, which is now on the great inter national highway from Paris to Milan. The town is still rapidly extending, especially towards the south and west. Since the days of Gibbon, Lausanne has become a favourite place of residence for foreigners and in 1930 they numbered 10,548 out of a total of 75,915. In 1709 it is said that the inhabitants numbered but
and 9,965 in 1803, while the numbers were 20,515 in 1860, in 1888, and in 1930, Of the population in 193o the great majority was French speaking (only 11,080 German speaking and 3,243 Italian speaking) and Protestant. There were 16,868 Roman Catholics and 818 Jews.
The principal building is the cathedral church (now Protestant) of Notre Dame, which stands Soo f t: above the lake. Earlier buildings were more or less completely destroyed by fire, but the present edifice was consecrated in 1275 by Pope Gregory X. in the presence of the emperor Rudolf of Habsburg. It was sacked after the Bernese conquest (1536), but many ancient tapestries and other precious objects are still preserved in the Historical Museum at Berne. The church was well restored from 1873 onwards. Close by is the castle, built in the early 15th century by the bishops, later the residence of the Bernese bailiffs and now the seat of the various branches of the administration of the canton of Vaud. Near both is the Palais de Rumine, opened in 1906 and now housing the university as well as the cantonal library, the cantonal picture gallery and collections of archaeology, natural history, etc. The university was raised to that rank in 1890, but, as an academy, dates from 1537. Among its former teachers may be mentioned Theodore Beza, Conrad Gesner, J. P. de Crousaz, Charles Monnard, Alexandre Vinet, Eugene Rambert, Juste Olivier and several members of the Secretan family.
To the south-west of the cathedral is the seat of the cantonal courts, a building which was from 1886 to 1927 the Federal Palace of Justice. The Federal courts have now been moved to the new Palace of Justice in the Parc Mon Repos. The house, La Grotte, which Gibbon inhabited 1783-1793, and on the terrace of which he completed (1787) his famous history, was demolished in 1896 to make room for the new post office that stands on the Place St. Francois. The first book printed in Lausanne was the missal of the cathedral church while the Gazette de Lausanne (founded 1798) took that name in 1804. Lausanne has been the birthplace of many distinguished men, such as Benjamin Constant, the Secretans, Vinet and Rambert.