Rolle (French pronunciation: [ʁɔl]) is a municipality in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) between Nyon and Lausanne.

Rolle is approximately 30 kilometers (19 mi) northeast of Geneva (Genève) in the La Côte wine-growing region, and has views of the high Alps.

[3] Rolle is also the birthplace of Frédéric-César de la Harpe (1754–1838), who was the tutor of Alexander I of Russia and was largely responsible for the independence of the Canton of Vaud from the Bernese.

[5] In 1295 it was known as Ruello and as Ruelloz, the city, in 1330 after it passed into the hands of Jean De Grailly the 1st, a Knight entrusted to care for the future King Edward the 2nd.

A late Bronze Age lake side settlement was discovered and partially destroyed in 1835 during construction of the artificial island of Île de la Harpe.

[5] In 1261, the Lords of Mont planned to build a city along the lake that would compete with the Aubonne and Saint-Prex.

In 1295 it passed to the Knight Jean De Grailly the 1st who named it Ruello changed centuries later to Rolle.

This new city closed a gap in the savoy settlements on the northern shores of Lake Geneva.

The layout of the town, a large main street running parallel to the lake shore with a cross street that connects the port with the hinterland, follow the construction patterns of typical Zähringer towns.

As compensation, Jean de Mont became a deputy ruler and received a dairy farm and half of the furnaces and mills.

[5] The fief of Le Rosey in the district of Rolle belonged to the lord of Vufflens in the middle of the 14th Century.

In 1558, the Bernese merchant Hans Steiger, who was already the lord of Mont-le-Grand, acquired the barony of Rolle.

The barony included the town of Rolle (except the fief of Les Uttins which belonged until the 18th century to the La Harpe family), Tartegnin, Vinzel, Luins, half of Essertines-sur-Rolle, some homes in Begnins, the region of Vincy, and Saint-Vincent (now in Gilly), Bursinel and in 1615 they acquired Le Rosey Castle, Dully and Le Vaud.

Amédée de La Harpe presided, in Rolle on 15 July 1791, over a revolutionary banquet.

Following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, Rolle became the seat of a district of the same name.

In 1802, during the Bourla-papey uprising, patrician land titles and tax records were burned in the archives at Rolle Castle.

Of the rest of the land, 1.74 km2 (0.67 sq mi) or 63.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes.

[12] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Rolle is; 636 children or 11.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 879 teenagers or 15.8% are between 10 and 19.

The entire old city of Rolle is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 966 or 47.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 43 or 2.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 93 or 4.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 81 or 4.0% were in the information industry, 33 or 1.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 82 or 4.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 330 or 16.3% were in education and 182 or 9.0% were in health care.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

[19] It is also the location for the main campus of Institut Le Rosey, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the world.