Collombey-Muraz

Collombey-Muraz is a municipality of about 9,600 inhabitants in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. After the town of Saint-Maurice the Rhône flows north toward Lake Geneva and the plain widens on both sides, forming on the left bank the area called the Chablais valaisan, to which the nine municipalities of the Monthey district belong. Collombey-Muraz includes the villages of Collombey, Muraz, Collombey-le-Grand, Illarsaz and Les Neyres, and because of its large share of flat ground it is one of the largest municipalities in the Valais, extending over 29.81 square kilometres. A survey of 2013 to 2018 found that housing and infrastructure took 14.1 percent of the territory, farmland 36.5 percent, woods 40.0 percent and unproductive land 9.3 percent. Seven alpine pastures on the heights bordering France belong to the bourgeoisie, which rents them to farmers for the summer, and the highest point, La Pointe de Bellevue at 2,042 metres, gives its name to a popular foot race held since 2013.