Vevey (French pronunciation: [vəvɛ] ⓘ; Arpitan: Vevê; former German: Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne.

Vevey is home to the world headquarters of the international food and beverage company Nestlé, founded here in 1867.

Milk chocolate was invented in Vevey by Daniel Peter in 1875, with the aid of Henri Nestlé.

It was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Ptolemy, who gave it the name Ouikos.

In the 1660s, several of the English regicides fled to Switzerland, and many of them settled in Vevey under the protection of the Bernese government.

Of the rest of the land, 2.13 km2 (0.82 sq mi) or 89.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 1.7% is either rivers or lakes.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Or and Azure, two Letters V interlaced counterchanged.

[10] The historical population is given in the following chart:[15] There are 14 structures in Vevey that are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The other seven buildings are: the Administration Building and Historical Archives of Nestlé SA; Aile Castle; the Cour au Chantre; the City Hall; the Hôtel des Trois-Couronnes; the La Grenette and Place du Marché; the Saint-Jean Tower and Fountain.

[17] The Grande Place is dominated by a granary known as La Grenette, built in 1803 in the Neo-Classical "rustic" style.

The Vevey folk markets, known locally as the Marchés Folkloriques, normally has up to 2000 visitors each Saturday over a period of two months.

Visitors can buy a wine-glass and drink to their heart's content while listening to brass bands, Swiss folk music, and watching traditional craftsmen at work.

[20] Many of the Union Cycliste Internationale defamation lawsuits against its critics have occurred under the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey.

In the tertiary sector; 1,749 or 21.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 228 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 614 or 7.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 218 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 382 or 4.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 2,150 or 26.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 432 or 5.3% were in education and 1,437 or 17.5% were in health care.

The wettest month is August during which time Vevey receives an average of 138 mm (5.4 in) of rain or snow.

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

Vevey, and in particular the hotel "Trois Couronnes" is one of two locations that comprise the setting of Henry James' novella Daisy Miller.

Vevey is named as the place where the daughter of the woman fell in love with a local man and was taken away by her family, while the couple had spent their honeymoon there.

It is also mentioned in Little Women, the classic American novel by Louisa May Alcott, as the location of the young Theodore "Laurie" Laurence's early studies at boarding school as well as a stop on Amy March's European trip.

Vevey was also the place where, in real life, Alcott met Ladislas Wiesniewski, who served as one of the models for Laurie.

Vevey is also the lakeside town used as the setting for Anita Brookner's Booker Prize-winning novel Hotel du Lac.

H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come, published in 1934, predicted a Second World War breaking out in 1940 and lasting until 1950.

In this future scenario, Vevey is depicted as the venue of an international peace conference held in 1941, where various prominent diplomats and statesmen gather, deliver "brilliant pacifist speeches [which] echo throughout Europe", but fail to end the war.

[29] A small village church above Vevey is mentioned by John Ruskin in The Stones of Venice, CHAPTER XI, The Arch Masonry, Page 169, diagram 5.

The brochure reads: "The Clara Haskil Competition was founded in 1963 to honour and perpetuate the memory of the incomparable Swiss pianist, of Romanian origin, who was born in Bucharest in 1895.

It takes place every two years in Vevey, Switzerland, where Clara Haskil resided from 1942 until her death in Brussels in 1960.

A further instrumental track, Vevey (Revisited) appears in part on the 'YesYears' album, and in full on the 2003 remaster of Going for the One.

9, passes through the municipalities of Vevey, La Tour-de-Peilz, Montreux, Veytaux and Villeneuve, and serves a total of 41 stops.

Also known as line 201, it operates every 10 minutes during the day between termini at the base station of the funicular and Villeneuve.

Vevey is well connected on the lake with boats going to all the major harbours like Le Bouveret, Saint Gingolph, Evian, Lausanne and more.