Regional and local museums

Musée des Ormonts

Route de Vers-L'Eglise 5, 1864 Vers-L'Eglise (VD)4.6 on Google

The Musée des Ormonts preserves and shares the history of the Ormonts valley, in the historic village of Vers-L’Eglise. Through exhibitions, publications and educational trails, it showcases the built heritage, geology, natural hazards and everyday Alpine life.

Main highlights

Temporary exhibitions on local history : winter sports, the ASD railway, roads, painters
Themed collections : architecture, geology, natural hazards and the Alpine economy
Historic village of Vers-L’Eglise, reachable by train from Aigle, at the foot of Les Diablerets

Overview

The Musée des Ormonts has been located in the historic village of Vers-L’Eglise since 2008. It grew out of an association founded in 1989, which brings together the municipalities of Ormont-Dessous and Ormont-Dessus.

Its mission is to collect and preserve the heritage of the Ormonts (objects, documents, images, films) and to showcase it through exhibitions, publications and talks. The Ormonts valley stretches from Aigle to the foot of the Diablerets massif and retains a heritage rich in traditions.

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What to see and do

Temporary exhibitions are at the heart of what the museum offers. Regularly renewed, they have covered the history of winter sports, photographic heritage, the 100th anniversary of the Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets railway, painters, hydropower and the history of roads.

The collections portray mountain life : farming tools, rural furniture, local costumes and everyday objects. A geology section explains how the Ormonts landscape was formed. An area devoted to natural hazards covers avalanches, rockfalls and floods.

The museum also offers educational tours and themed trails exploring the valley’s built heritage, place names and Alpine economy.

Practical information

Getting there : by train from Aigle station towards Les Diablerets, alight at Vers-l’Eglise, then a 3-minute walk. By car via the Route des Diablerets.

Visit duration : allow 1.5 to 2 hours for the collections and the current exhibition.

Audience : the museum is family-friendly, with educational tours suited to children.

Visitor tips

After your visit, stroll through the hamlet’s lanes to admire the traditional architecture and the church that gives the village its name.

In summer, combine your visit with a hike from the village, for example towards the Col du Pillon. In winter, the experience changes, with the village blanketed in snow.

Nearby attractions

Glacier 3000, the highest point in the Vaud Alps, offers views of more than 24 peaks.
The Gypsum Pyramids, near the Col de la Croix, are formations sculpted by water and wind.
The Bex Salt Mines reveal the art of salt extraction, practised for more than five centuries.