As the country of Vaud, having won its independence, was becoming a Swiss canton in 1803, Lausanne was laying the milestones for its future metamorphosis. Renewal was in the air. The industrious middle classes were supplanting the aristocracy, and the Catholic Church was reappearing. The city finally moved beyond the limits of its medieval walls and, confronting its rugged landscape, embarked on the construction of a new road to circle the city, with the Grand-Pont as its defining point.
