Pierrafortscha (French: [pjɛʁafɔʁtʃa]; Arpitan: Piérraforchua, locally Pèrafortya [pɛʁaˈfɔʁca] ⓘ) is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Pierrafortscha (Fribourg dialect for Pierre Forchue, forked rock) is first mentioned in 1267 as Pierraforchia.
[4] The municipality is located in the Sarine district, on the language border between the Saane/Sarine river and the Gérine.
It consists of eight hamlets including Pierrafortscha, Villars-sur-Marly, Granges-sur-Marly and La Schürra.
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Azure and Or overall a Rough Stone proper.
[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (96 or 70.6%) as their first language, German is the second most common (38 or 27.9%) and Italian is the third (2 or 1.5%).
[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][12] The Chalet de Diesbach and the granary of Château d’En-Haut are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The hamlets of Granges-sur-Marly and Villars-sur-Marly are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
[8] From the 2000 census[update], 98 or 72.1% were Roman Catholic, while 31 or 22.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.
This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.
The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs.
After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship.