Matran

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Matran
Canton	Fribourg
District	Sarine
Coordinates	46°47′N 7°6′E
Population	1329 (January 2004)
Area	2.89 km²
Elevation	614 m
Postal code	1753
SFOS number	2208
Matran

Matran is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Matran nestles 614 m above sea level about 5.5 km in the Glâne valley from the canton's capital Fribourg.

[edit] History

The first recorded mention is in 1138 under the name Martrens en Nuithonie. Later it changed to Martrans (1148), Matrans (1157), Martranz (1285), Martrant (1445), Martrand (1555) and Matrang (1668). The place name derives from "Martyrus".

In the middle ages the Abbey of Payerne owned much land in Matran. In 1442 the hamlest was sold and came into posession of Fribourg. After the collpase of the Ancien Régime (1798) Matran belonged during the Helvetik and later to the county of Fribourg, and in 1848 it became a member of the "Saanebezirk" of the Canton of Fribourg.

Matran has grown from a sleepy hamlet of a few hundred farmers and their families to a population of over 4,000 inhabitants in the last 25 years. Matran boasts a wonderful gothic parish church dating back to the 1500's with rare 18th century ceiling paintings depicting the 4 evangelists by an unknown artist, and a gigantic bronze Pieta by Hugo de Matran at the town mortuary.

The town is dominated by the former Kollegium Sankt Joseph, once a boarding school run by the Redemptorist Fathers (CSSR), which since the early 1990 serves a spiritual retreat for groups. The chapel is frequently used for broadcasts by the TV de la Suisse Romande.

Former students and teachers include the Swiss author Peter Fahr; the Fribourg Cathedral Organist and music professor Francois Seydoux (an expert on Alois Moser the organ builder); Luc Seydoux, organist; Father Alois Schmid (CSSR), author and biology professor at the University of Fribourg; James d'Argantel Odrowaz, painter and author.

Matran is also home to the well-known sculptor and painter Hugo de Matran (Hugo Heule). A priest in the Redemptorist order, Hugo initially began his work as a sculptor in the late 1980's. He studied in Munich at the Kunsthochschule. His studio plays often host to groups of international artists who gather there for annual work shops or artists' symposia.