Sion, Switzerland

Sion

Sion, the valley of the Rhône and the Haut de Cry (2969 m, middle right front) and the Grand Chavalard (2899 m, on the very left)

Coat of arms

Sion

Location of Sion

Coordinates: 46°14′N 7°22′E / 46.233°N 7.367°ECoordinates: 46°14′N 7°22′E / 46.233°N 7.367°E

Country

Government

• Executive

Conseil municipal
with 15 members

• Mayor

Président (list)
Marcel Maurer FDP/PRD/PLR
(as of February 2014)

• Parliament

Conseil général
with 60 members

Area

• Total

34.85 km² (13.46 sq mi)

Elevation

500 m (1,600 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

33,879

• Density

970/km² (2,500/sq mi)

Postal code

1950

SFOS number

6266

Surrounded by

Ayent, Conthey, Grimisuat, Grône, Les Agettes, Nax, Nendaz, Saint-Léonard, Salins, Savièse, Vernamiège, Vex

Website

www.sion.ch
SFSO statistics

Sion (French pronunciation: [sjɔ̃]; German: Sitten pronounced [zɪtən]; Italian: Seduno; Latin Sedunum) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Valais and of the district of Sion. As of December 2015^[update] it had a population of 33,879 ("Sédunois"). On 17 January 1968 the former municipality of Bramois merged into the municipality of Sion. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Salins merged into the municipality of Sion and on 1 January 2017 Les Agettes did the same. Sion is well known for its old town.

Landmarks include the Basilique de Valère and Château de Tourbillon. Sion has an airfield for civilian and military use which serves as a base for countless air rescue missions.

Sion is one of the most important pre-historic sites in Europe. The alluvial fan of Sionne, the rocky slopes above the river and, to a lesser extent, Valeria and Tourbillon hills have been settled nearly continuously since antiquity. The oldest trace of human settlement comes from 6200 BC during the late Mesolithic. Around 5800 BC early Neolithic farmers from the Mediterranean settled in Sion. The settlements remained small until about 4500 BC, during the middle Neolithic, when the number of settlements increased sharply. To support the population increase, farming and grazing spread throughout the valley. They also began burying their dead in Chablandes-type stone burial cists with engraved anthropomorphic stelae. The individual graves changed at the beginning of the third Millennium BC in large, dry stone wall communal tombs (such as the Dolmen of Le Petit-Chasseur). During the Beaker culture period in the second half of the third Millennium, dolmens were built once again, but they were smaller and had no podium. Stelae continued to be carved, though these were rich with geometric patterns and sometimes built out of old dolmen. At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (around 2300 BC) the last stelae were erected.

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Wikipedia