Gruyères

Gruyères (ɡʁɥijɛʁ; Gruviéres ɡʁəˈviʁ; Greyerz) is a town in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane/Sarine river, and gives its name to Gruyère cheese. The medieval town is located at the top of high hill overlooking the Saane valley and the Lake of Gruyère. Gruyères has an area, , of . Of this area, or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 3.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 46.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.6% is used for growing crops and 12.9% is pastures and 22.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Gruyères is above sea level, south-south-east of the district capital Bulle. The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson. It is also the location where the Saane river (French name: Sarine) leaves the Fribourg alps. The area of the municipality comprises a section of the Saane valley and of the Fribourg alps. The central part of the area is the plains of Alluvial ( above sea level) next to the alps, between Gruyères and Broc, from which the hill of Gruyères rises to above sea level. From the west, the brook Trême meets the Saane. East of the Saane, the municipality area ends in a small corner, bordered by the ridges of Dent de Broc ( above sea level) in the north and Dent du Chamois ( above sea level) in the south, ending at the valley of Motélon. The two peaks with their saddle between them are a popular subject for photographs of Gruyères. Southwest of Gruyères, the municipality comprises most of the catchment area of the brook Albeuve, which originates on the flanks of mount Moléson.