The Jorat (German: "der Jurten") is the area of the

Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green bicolou ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) located between the Gros-de-Vaud, West and the

Broye The Broye (; ''Dictionnaire-Dikchenéro: Français-Patois/Patê-Franché''. Société cantonale des patoisans fribourgeois. Fribourg: 2013. p. 87 ) is a 68 km long river, in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud, in Switzerland. It has a watershe ...

, East.

Geography

It is a hill range that stretches from above

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

at the South and stretches toward

Payerne Payerne (; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earliest traces of ...

at the North. Every stretch of land above 700 meters of altitude

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

constitutes the mainly forest area called "Jorat". The culminating point is the Montagne du Château (929 meters).

Villages

Strictly speaking, the Jorat comprises 18 villages, with a lot of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

: * Carrouge, * Corcelles-le-Jorat, *

Les Cullayes Les Cullayes is a former municipality in the district of Lavaux-Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipality of Les Cullayes merged on 1 January 2012 into the municipality of Servion.Essertes Essertes () is a former municipality in the district of Lavaux-Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 January 2022 the former municipality of Essertes merged into Oron. History Essertes is first mentioned in 1154 as ''terram de Sartis' ...

, *

Ferlens Ferlens is a former municipality in the district of Lavaux-Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 July 2016 the former municipalities of Ferlens, Carrouge and Mézières merged into the new municipality of Jorat-Mézières. History Fe ...

, * Froideville, *

Hermenches Hermenches is a municipality in the district Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Hermenches is first mentioned in 1254 as ''Ermenges''. Geography Hermenches has an area, , of . Of this area, or 65.0% is used for agricu ...

, * Mézières, *

Montpreveyres Montpreveyres is a municipality in the district of Lavaux-Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Montpreveyres is first mentioned in 1154 as ''Monteproverio''. In 1177 it was mentioned as ''Montpreuero''. Then in 1167 and again i ...

, *

Peney-le-Jorat Peney-le-Jorat is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is in the south-west of Switzerland, in close proximity to both France and Italy. The villages of Villars-Tiercelin, Montaubion- ...

, *

Ropraz Ropraz is a municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Ropraz is first mentioned in 1234 as ''Rospraz''. Geography Ropraz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 70.8% is used for agricultural purp ...

, *

Servion Servion () is a municipality in the district of Lavaux-Oron in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipality of Les Cullayes merged on 1 January 2012 into Servion.Sottens Sottens is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is known for its radio transmitter for the French language Swiss radio, built in 1931. The municipalities of Villars-Tiercelin, Montaub ...

, *

Syens Syens is a municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Syens is first mentioned in 1018 as ''Ciens''. Geography Syens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.2% is used for agricultural purpose ...

Villars-Mendraz Villars-Mendraz is a municipality in the district Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Villars-Tiercelin, Montaubion-Chardonney, Sottens, Villars-Mendraz and Peney-le-Jorat merged on 1 July 2011 into the new ...

, *

Villars-Tiercelin Villars-Tiercelin was a municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Villars-Tiercelin, Montaubion-Chardonney, Sottens, Villars-Mendraz and Peney-le-Jorat merged on 1 July 2011 in ...

, *

Vucherens Vucherens is a municipality in the district Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Geography Vucherens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 64.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 23.2% is forested. Of the rest of the ...

, *

Vulliens Vulliens is a municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipality has a mayor with Daniel Schorderet since 2002 and four municipal councillors. Geography Vulliens has an area, , of . Of this area ...

. Stretching somewhat the definition, some 20 villages could be added to the above listing.

Geography

Villages

See also