The Jolimont is a hill that stretches Southwest to Northeast for about 4 km along the

Thielle The river Thielle (french: La Thielle, or La Thièle, german: Zihl), is a tributary to the Aare, in the Swiss Seeland. The Thielle results from the merging of the Orbe and Talent, northeast of the little city of Orbe in the Swiss canton of Vau ...

canal, between the

Lake of Neuchâtel A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and the

Lake of Bienne __NOTOC__ Lake Bienne or Lake Biel (french: Lac de Bienne ; german: Bielersee) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies approxim ...

, in the Seeland, Switzerland. The Jolimont elevation starts in

Gampelen Gampelen (french: Champion) is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Gampelen should not be confused with the municipality Gampel in the canton of Valais. History Gampelen is first mentio ...

till Erlach (fr. Cerlier), where its promontory into the Lake of Bienne builds both the

Isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthm ...

and the

St. Petersinsel __NOTOC__ St. Peter's Island (french: Île Saint-Pierre; german: Sankt Petersinsel) is a peninsula and former island situated in Lake Biel in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It has a length of about and a maximum width of . Its highest point is ...

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

. North, nestled between it and the Thielle canal lies Gals and, at its southern side,

Tschugg Tschugg is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Tschugg is first mentioned in 1221 as ''Shuc''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Bronze Age settlement and an over ...

Vineyards

The sunny side slopes of the Jolimont are ideal for growing

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

, mostly

chasselas Chasselas or Chasselas blanc is a wine grape variety grown mainly in Switzerland, France, Germany, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, New Zealand, Croatia and Chile. Chasselas is mostly vinified to be a full, dry and fruity white wine. It is als ...

Panorama

The hilltop offers an extraordinary view on the Castle of Erlach, which was erected during the 11th Century, protecting Erlach's picturesque old town, erected on terraces along the steep descend of "Schlossberg" toward the lake and the St. Petersinsel.

Archaeology

The Jolimont is located within an area rich in archaeological sites, at the side of an important waterway. Local historians have explored the hill since the 14th Century. Isolated objects of almost all areas, undetermined defensive systems and vestiges of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

housings indicate the early presence of mankind on the summit plateau. Three

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...

excavated in 1847 contained tombs with furniture dating back to the medium Bronze era (including weapons found in the men's tombs from the 2nd Millennium B.C. and the

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammer ...

era (approx. 500 B.C.). A Roman road leading to

Petinesca Petinesca is an archeological site on the territory of Studen, a community of the Canton of Bern, in Switzerland, where Celtic and Roman vestiges were found. Celtic and Roman vestiges The site lies at the SE edge of the Jensberg mountain. Cel ...

(Studen) on the side of the lake of Bienne, passed at the southern side of the Jolimont, reaching the Steiacher ‘’villa’’ on the Tschugg territory.

Sources & Reference

Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse

Official Report and Map

Bibliography

*-H.-M. von Kaenel et al., «Das Seeland in ur- und frühgeschichtlicher Zeit», in Jahrbuch der Geographischen Gesellschaft von Bern, 53, 1977–1979, 71-165, author : Felix Müller (Berne) / PM

Map

map.search.ch: Carte: Jolimont, 3235 Erlach

References

Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the canton of Bern Mountains of Switzerland under 1000 metres {{Bern-mountain-stub