Murten (German, ˈmuːɐ̯tn̩) or Morat (French, mɔʁa; Morât mɔˈʁa) is a bilingual municipality and a city in the See district of the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.
It is located on the southern shores of Lake Morat (also known as Lake Murten). Morat is situated between Neuchâtel and Fribourg and is the capital of the See/Lac District of the canton of Fribourg. It is one of the municipalities with a majority (about 75%) of German speakers in the predominantly French-speaking Canton of Fribourg.
On 1 January 1975 the former municipality of Burg bei Murten merged into the municipality of Murten. It was followed on 1 January 1991 by the former municipality of Altavilla and on 1 January 2013 by the former municipality of Büchslen. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Courlevon, Jeuss (Jentes), Lurtigen (Lourtens) and Salvenach (Salvagny) merged into Morat (Murten). On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Galmiz, Gempenach and Clavaleyres (Canton of Bern) merged into the municipality of Murten.
The oldest archaeological traces of a settlement in the perimeter are from the Mesolithic (8200-5500 BC). The Mesolithic finds are mostly small flint shards for use in weapons or tools. These flints were produced mostly in the swampy lowlands east of the city at Murten-Combette and Murten-Ober Prehl. While many of these flint objects are in museums, the exact discovery sites were not properly documented and have been lost or covered by later excavations. Several other sites were discovered during construction of the A1 motorway in 1976–95. These settlements are from the Neolithic (5500-2500 BC) and the Bronze Age (2300-800 BC). Murten Pré de la Blanc was used in the Neolithic and middle Bronze Age, while the sites Murten-Lowenberg, Murten-Ober Prehl and Chantemerle 1 are from the Late Bronze Age. The cemetery at Lowenberg was used for more than a millennium, from the middle Bronze Age to the La Tène period. The nearby necropolis holds a number of Hallstatt era graves.
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The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (Schweizer Mittelland; plateau suisse; altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface area, and is partly flat but mostly hilly. The average height is between and AMSL. It is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, the center of economy and important transportation. In the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically and geologically by the Jura Mountains.
Münchenwiler (Villars-Les-Moines) is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Münchenwiler is first mentioned in 1080-81 as Vilar. In 1228 it was mentioned as Vilar les Moinos. In 1080-81 the village was given by the brothers Gerold and Rudolf de Vilar to Cluny Abbey. Shortly thereafter a priory was founded, which served as a way station for pilgrims on the Way of St. James. The Priory church was built in 1100, using spolia from the Roman ruins at Avenches.
Courlevon is a former municipality in the district of See or du Lac in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. On 1 January 2016, the former municipalities of Courlevon, Jeuss, Lurtigen, and Salvenach merged into Murten/Morat. Courlevon is first mentioned in 1214 as Curlivin. Courlevon had an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 37.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.2% is settled (buildings or roads). Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.