Île de Peilz
One of the few natural islands in Lake Geneva, rich in legend and literary ties.
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Tucked away at the eastern end of Lake Geneva, near the town of Villeneuve in the Swiss canton of Vaud, lies the Île de Peilz—a tiny patch of land that barely covers a few dozen square metres. Its most striking feature is a monumental London plane tree, and it holds the distinction of being both the smallest and the only natural island in the entire lake.
The island’s past is hazy, but its current shape was built up during the 1700s. Over time, it has left its mark on culture, appearing in works by Lord Byron and Hans Christian Andersen, as well as in local folklore. More recently, it has become a favourite subject for social media photos.
Name
The island takes its name from the municipality of La Tour-de-Peilz, west of Montreux. That village once owned land near the mouth of the Rhône River, close to where the island sits. The origin of the name “Peilz” is uncertain: it might come from the Latin pilosus (which turned into the French poilu, meaning hairy, hinting at a forested area), or from the Gaulish word blaidd (wolf).
Topography
Geographically, the Île de Peilz lies about 500 metres off the mouth of the Eau Froide river, which marks the border between the municipalities of Noville and Villeneuve. The Rhône’s mouth is roughly a kilometre west of that spot. Because of the risk of running aground, boat access is not advised.
The island’s surface area is given in conflicting sources as 20, 40, or 77 square metres. It is thought to be the lake’s only natural island, its smallest, and its farthest from shore. Its only vegetation is the large London plane tree and a few shrubs.
History
The island’s history is largely obscure, though it is quite old. Local tradition claims it was just a bare rock until 1797, when the people of Villeneuve covered it with earth and built a supporting wall around it. No primary sources back this up, and the reason for such an expensive project is unclear. Still, a wall was definitely built near the end of the 1700s and repaired in 1820.
In 1851, the island underwent another major restoration, funded by a public subscription started in 1846. A wooden house—of which no trace remains—was supposedly built then. Other stories about the island are legendary.
The tree was planted in 1851, replacing three poplars with London planes and horse-chestnuts. By 1944, one tree had dried out; by 1970, only one London plane and a sickly horse-chestnut remained. The horse-chestnut later vanished, leaving just the plane and a few shrubs. In 2010, the wall—damaged by the tree’s roots—was repaired again by the Villeneuve municipal authorities, much like the wall of the Île Rousseau at the lake’s other end.
Culturally, the island appears in Lord Byron’s 1816 narrative poem The Prisoner of Chillon, where he describes “a little isle” with “three tall trees.” A local legend tells of a young English couple staying at the Hôtel Byron near Chillon Castle in the mid-1800s. While bathing, the man drowned; his body was found farther out in the lake. His fiancée had the “Île de Paix” (Peace Island) built on that spot as a memorial, and the name later shifted to “Île de Peilz,” also called the “Island of Two Lovers.”
Legends
Hans Christian Andersen adapted this legend in his 1861 tale The Ice-Maiden, setting the story’s climax on the island. Another legend claims the Swiss federal government once offered the island to Queen Victoria during her visit, but she either returned it to avoid taxes or kept it for the British royal family. No record of such a transaction exists, and it would have been impossible because the island never belonged to the federal government. The municipal archivist of Villeneuve confirms there is no historical evidence for any of these legends.
As of 2021, the picturesque Île de Peilz has become increasingly popular as a backdrop for Instagram and other social media photography.
A Singular Speck in Lake Geneva
The Île de Peilz occupies a unique position in the geography of Lake Geneva. Nestled roughly 500 metres from where the Eau Froide river meets the lake, near the border between Noville and Villeneuve, it is the smallest and the only natural island in the entire body of water. Its surface area is a matter of some dispute among sources, with estimates ranging from 20 to 77 square metres, but by any measure it is a mere patch of land.
The island sits about a kilometre east of the Rhône's mouth, in the eastern reaches of the lake close to Villeneuve in the canton of Vaud. Its sole notable vegetation is a single monumental London plane tree accompanied by a handful of shrubs. Access by boat is discouraged due to the danger of running aground, reinforcing the sense that this is a place set apart, almost unreachable, a tiny world unto itself in the vast expanse of the lake.
Echoes in European Literature
Though minuscule, the island has left an outsized mark on European letters. In 1816, the fateful Year Without a Summer, Lord Byron wove the island into his narrative poem The Prisoner of Chillon, lending it a place in one of the most celebrated works of Romantic poetry. Decades later, the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen drew upon local lore to set the climactic scene of his 1861 tale The Ice-Maiden on the island. In his rendering, the lovers Rudy and Babette visit the tiny isle—so small from the shore it might be mistaken for a vessel—to dance before their wedding.
As they sit talking, the boat drifts away; Rudy dives after it, and the Ice-Maiden, whom he had fled in his youth, claims him with a final kiss. Andersen's description captures the island's character vividly: a valley between rocks, dammed up and planted with trees a century prior, now shading the whole space. These literary appearances transformed a nameless rock into a symbol of love, loss, and the sublime.
More in Swiss folklore
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Île de Peilz (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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