Bellmund

Bellmund (French: Belmont) is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Bellmund is first mentioned in 1107 as Bellus mons. In 1228 it was mentioned as Belmunt. The municipality was formerly known by its French name Belmont though that name is rarely used. The oldest traces of a settlement in the area are a few, scattered neolithic items found on the Jensberg hill. Later traces include Roman era iron ingots which were found in the Wilerholz and the remains of what may have been a Roman road to Sutz. A few early medieval graves were found in the modern village. During the High Middle Ages, Knebelburg Castle (also spelled Chnebelburg) was built on the Jensberg. By 1107 the royal family of Burgundy founded a Cluniac priory near the village. In 1127, the priory moved to St. Peter's Island in the nearby Lake Biel.