Visp

Visp is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Geography

Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, 9 km (6 mi) west of Brig-Glis.

Visp has an area, as of 2011, of 13.2 square km. Of this area, 17.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 59.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 19.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.9% is unproductive land.

The proposed merger of the municipalities of Eggerberg, Ausserberg, Bürchen, Baltschieder, Visp and Visperterminen was rejected by the residents.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Argent and Gules, two Lions rampant reguardant counterchanged.

Sights

The entire small city of Visp is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 5,390 or 82.3% were Roman Catholic, while 306 or 4.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 174 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.66% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 104 individuals (or about 1.59% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 250 (or about 3.82% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 10 individuals who were Buddhist and 3 individuals who were Hindu. 88 (or about 1.34% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 268 individuals (or about 4.09% of the population) did not answer the question.

Transportation

Visp railway station is a junction station, with a modern station building completed in 2007. It is served by two standard gauge lines, Simplon railway and Lötschberg railway line, (with services operated by Swiss Federal Railways) and a metre gauge line BVZ Zermatt-Bahn (with services operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn).

The railway and bus stations in Visp and Brig are starting points for many outdoor activities, trips, and tours in the surrounding mountain resorts Zermatt and Saas-Fee, lying at the foot of almost all the highest peaks in the Alps, such as Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Dom and Weisshorn.