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Lausanne (French pronunciation: [loˈzan], Ital. Losanna) is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman)[1], and facing Évian-les-Bains (France) and with the Jura mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 km (39 mi) northeast of Geneva. It is the capital of the canton of Vaud and of the district of Lausanne. The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee are located in Lausanne and the IOC officially recognises the city as the Capitale Olympique,[2] and the headquarters of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It lies in the middle of a wine region.
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The Romans built a military camp, which they called Lousanna, at the site of a Celtic settlement, near the lake where currently are Vidy and Ouchy; on the hill above was a fort called 'Lausodunon' or 'Lousodunon' (The 'y' suffix is common to many place names of Roman origin in the region (e.g.) Prilly, Pully, Lutry, etc).[3]
After the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current center, a hilly, easier to defend site. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy and the Bishop of Lausanne. Then it came under Berne from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them.
After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became (along with Geneva) a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan. By 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely; this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787; a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, and the Lausanne seminary was finally closed on 18 April 1812.[4] During the Napoleonic Wars, the city's status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, Vaud under which it joined the Swiss Federation.[5]
In 1964 the city hosted the 'Swiss National Exhibition',[6] displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the industrial district of Renens and transforming the local diet.
The city has been traditionally quiet but in the late 1960s and early 1970s there were a series of mainly youth demonstrations confronted by the police. The next vigorous demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices and since then the city returned to its very sleepy self, until the protest against the G8 meetings in 2003.
The most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French). Lausanne is built on the southern slope of the Swiss plateau, with a difference in elevation of about 500 meters (1,640 ft) between the lakeshore at Ouchy and its northern edge bordering Le Mont-sur-Lausanne and Epalinges. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps.
In addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the center of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century. The former river forms a gorge running through the middle of the city south of the old city centre, generally following the course of the present Rue Centrale, with several bridges crossing the depression to connect the adjacent neighborhoods. Due to the large differences in elevation, visitors should make a note as to which plane of elevation they are on and where they want to go, lest they find themselves tens of meters below or above the street which they are trying to travel on. The name Flon is also used for the Metro station located in the gorge.
Lausanne is located at the limit between the extensive wine-growing regions of Lavaux (to the east) and la Côte (to the west).
The population of the greater Lausanne area (grand Lausanne) is about 316,000 (2007 estimate).
Lausanne is served by extensive local, national and international public transport. National and international passenger trains depart from Lausanne's CFF railway station, which is also the hub of the Réseau Express Vaudois commuter rail system, and a stop on the city's metro. The metro and local buses are operated by TL (French), with many routes run using trolleybuses. Additional commuter trains are run by LEB (French) from Lausanne-Flon station. Ships across Lake Geneva are provided by CGN (French).
Lausanne became the first city in Switzerland to have a rubber-tyred metro system, with the m2 Line which opened in October 2008. The rolling stock is a shorter version of the one used on Paris Métro Line 14.[citation needed]
Lausanne is connected to the A1 motorway on its west side (Geneva - Zurich axis) and to the A9 on its north and east side (for transit with Italy and France); the interchange between these two motorways is on the north-west side of the city.
Philip Morris International, a tobacco company, has its operations center in Lausanne.[7]
Lausanne enjoys some world class education and research establishements, including private schools attended by students from around the world.
The Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne provide a diverse and rich musical life. The latter has been under the direction of Michel Corboz for many years.
In January, the Prix de Lausanne, a famous dance competition, takes place at the Théâtre de Beaulieu over a one-week period. The event attracts dancers and some of the big names in dance from all over the world.
The town hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1989.
Each July, the "Festival de la Cité" is held in the old part of town. There are also film and music festivals, such as the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival and the Bach Festival, Le Festival et Concours Bach de Lausanne, which follows "La Nuit de Musées" (museums' night, occurring in May) in the fall season.
Lausanne is also the home of the Béjart Ballet.
Lausanne is also the site of many museums:
Main contemporary art galleries:
Art centers or artist-run galleries:
Sporting activities are very popular in Lausanne, with water sports available on the nearby lake and mountaineering in the nearby mountains. Cycling is also a popular pastime, with the vineyards in the surrounding hills providing spectacular views and challenging routes. There is an annual athletic contest (Athletissima), road running through the city (the 20 km de Lausanne(French)), the Tour de Romandie road cycling race, marathon (website) and triathlon competition, among other sports events. The two most important sports are ice hockey and football.
Lausanne is the birthplace of:
Notable residents:
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Lausanne [1], (pron: low-ZANNE) the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud, is a medium sized city (around two thirds the size of Geneva) which sits at the northern most point of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). The city is the host to the International Olympic Committee and two major universities. It is also the transportation hub of Vaud, and a gateway to the alpine Canton of the Valais, home to some of the best known ski slopes in the world.
As you might expect the large student population makes for a lively nightlife and arts community, revolving around the Flon district. You'll also find a number of quality restaurants and two dozen museums of note, including the Olympic Museum and the offbeat Collection de l'Art Brut. Architecture buffs should note that at the top of the old town you'll find the best preserved Gothic cathedral in Switzerland.
Lausanne is a French speaking city like Geneva. However, English is not as commonly spoken as in Geneva and less than half the population can speak English at a competent level. You will probably have trouble communicating with a commoner on the street but most service-sector employees speak a little English.
There has been a settlement on the hill of Lausanne since at least the stone age, but most histories of the city trace its origin to the roman camp Lausanna which occupied a position just down the hill toward the lake in what is now the village of Vidy.
Relocated to more defensible hilltop in the dark ages, Lausanne's increasing wealth and importance were largely derived from its placement on the primary north south routes between Italy and the north sea. It was the first major town north of the St. Bernard pass, at least until the establishment of the bishopric of Valais.
In 1538 the Bernese took the city from the Dukes of Savoy as part of their drive to secure their southwestern frontier. The Bernese held the territory until Lausanne gained its independence from Berne after the invasion of a French army under Napoléon Bonaparte in 1798. The city was later, in 1803, admitted to Switzerland as the capital of Vaud.
Lavaux, the mini region of the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Montreux (sometimes called the Swiss Riviera) has been a second home to writers, artists and musicians for about 150 years starting with the Shelleys and Lord Byron, who partied and wrote in Lausanne (Frankenstein is rumoured to have been composed here). Other famous residents include Ernest Hemingway, who wintered here with his young family around the time related in A Movable Feast and Charlie Chaplin who lived in Vevey from the mid 1930s on.
Lausanne is served by one of the most efficient passenger rail services in the world, the Swiss Federal Rail [3] system. Trains run roughly each half-hour between 4:45AM and 1:30AM every day to and from Geneva, Zurich, Berne, Neuchatel, St. Gallen, Brig and points in between. There are four trains daily from Paris Gare de Lyon via the SNCF's [4] TGV "High Speed Train"", and 8 per day from Milan on the Swiss-Italian Cisalpino [5] (CHEEZ-al-PEEN-o). The Italian rail service also provides twice-per-day trains to and from Milan and night trains to and from Rome and Venice.
The closest airport, Geneva airport is served by almost all European carriers, and by three daily trans-Atlantic flights, one from Washington-Dulles on United, one from New York, JFK on Swiss and one from Newark on Continental; otherwise when flying from the U.S. you will have to change planes at your airline's hub airport. Trains between Geneva Airport and the Lausanne CFF station take about 45 minutes and run at least twice each hour, except for the wee hours of the morning. Zurich airport provides an alternative, with more frequent trans-Atlantic service mainly via Swiss [6].
International buses arrive daily from Spain, France, as well as major cities in Central Europe. Many buses pass through Geneva or Basel before stopping in Lausanne.
Boats ply both the Swiss and French shores of Lake Geneva with several daily ferries to Evian (passport required to enter France), Montreux, Geneva and many smaller lakeshore towns. See the boat company website [7] for timetables and prices. Lunch and dinner cruises are also popular with tourists. Most of the ferries are meant as scenic trips and not the fastest way to get around. If travelling from Geneva to Lausanne, a boat trip is worth the time on a clear day.
Private boat tours and transfers from Lausanne to any port on the lake by Léman Transfers [8]. Groups of up to 6 passengers can be privately chauffeured around the lake.
The neighborhoods of Lausanne which are of primary concern to a visitor are the Cité, the Ville Marché, and the port of Ouchy. In between you'll find the Flon which is mainly a nightclub district these days, and the otherwise sleep Sous Gare neighborhood just under the train station which boasts one of the best cafés in town. If you feel up for a hike it's also probably worth while to spend a few hours climbing around in the woods of Sauvebelin which is above and north of the Hermitage.
Walking is a great way to get around Lausanne. There are a number of sites within a short walk of the main railway station with the largely carfree streets beginning right across the street with rue du Petit-Chêne, which leads up to Place St. François in the old town. Like many streets in Lausanne it is a bit steep though, so if that's a problem consider taking the Metro M2.
There are normally two Metro lines provided by Transports publics de la région lausannoise [9] which have their hub at the Flon Metro station. The new M2 [10] is a fully automated subway system connecting Ouchy to the northern suburb of Epalinges via the central station, Flon, and multiple stops in the old town. The M1 serves points west, including the University of Lausanne [11] (UNIL) and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne [12] (EPFL).
There is also a local railway operated by the private LEB [13] company, with trains connecting with the other two metro lines at Flon which run out to the far northern suburbs of Echallens and Bercher.
Beginning in 2008 a free metro and bus pass valid for two weeks will be provided to all Lausanne hotel guests.
Metro (and bus) tickets are sold from vending machines at all stops, and at the main train station and the Flon. Normal tickets are sold by distance, as determined by a zone system. You can determine the number of zones your ticket needs to cover by inspecting the diagram on the ticket machines, or on the free map available at all ticket-sales points. Tickets are available for single rides, return, and in day and week passes. Most ticket machines at Metro and bus stops do not issue change. The CFF [14] Abonnement General rail passes are good for unlimited travel throughout the TL and LEB system.
If you have a CFF pass for non-swiss travelers you should ask at the main station if your pass covers the local transit system, since some passes do and others don't.
Clean and fast buses, also provided by TL [15], are very frequent and form a dense enough network that you will rarely find yourself more than a few hundred feet from one bus stop or the other.
Bicycles can be borrowed for free against a deposit at Lausanne Roule [16], who has one location in the city center (just outside the Lausanne Flon Metro station -- the address on their web site is wrong) and one in the west-side suburbs in Renens. It is possible to take a bike in one location and give it back at the other one. A third location also exists in Vevey, but one-way rentals cost CHF 10.--. The bike ride from Lausanne to Vevey is beautiful. On your left are endless vineyards and to your right is Lake Geneva and the Alps. Get a booklet on this ride from Lausanne Roule for free.
Beware that the city is pretty steep, but the lakefront is very nice. There is a handy 1:10,000 'Carte Velo' printed in 2006 but still downloadable from the city website [17]. This map helps those new to the city find the preferred bicycling routes in the area. Throughout the city is an excellent network of paths, marked bicycle lanes, and bypass tunnels that will help get you through the most busy intersections. The routes by the lake are simply beautiful but can get quite busy with strollers, roller bladers, and cyclists at peak times during the summer.
The usual Swiss trinkets are available in a couple of places around town, although they are not nearly as ubiquitous as in Geneva or Berne. The real draw here is a colorful farmers market on Saturdays and Wednesdays in the steep, winding streets of Old Town. There are plenty of boutiques and department stores as well. Note that pretty much everything is closed on Sunday, except in Ouchy, part of which is on Federal land.
Mixed in with the expected and the posh are a couple of things which might surprise you:
The usual tricks for budget travel dining work in Lausanne as well. There's a grocery store ("Aperto") inside the train station which is open every day until midnight (a bit expensive),COOP PRONTO is in the station below the railways, near the lane 9, it represents a good alternative, and there are plenty of great places to take your picnic, for instance you might try the Crêt de Montriond. To get there go belows the railways, take down the stairs and go to the main avenue, then turn to the left. After the turn you should see a green hill around the size of a five story building directly in front of you. If you are closer to the port of Ouchy there are two groceries open every day, "Migros" which is near the Mövenpick Hotel and "Coop Pronto", which is just uphill from the Chateâu d'Ouchy.
If you have a valid student ID many budget and even some mid-range restaurants offer a student menu for a reduced price.
The sheer number of nightlife spots makes it hard to choose which ones to list. As a general rule they tend to be clustered into nightlife districts, like the Flon, Place du Tunnel, Place de la Gare, rue Marterey, etc. This list tries to present one or two individual establisments from each of those clusters, plus a few which are a bit more off the beaten path.
The city's own official website has surprisingly good music listings, so if you would like to see what's going on during your visit give it a try.
To perhaps a surprising degree for visitors from outside of Swiss Romande gay nightlife is very well integrated into nightlife at large. Most Lausanne nightspots are definintely gay-friendly, and many have a mixed straight-gay barstaff. There are a couple of places though which either advertise themselves as gay, or just have a majority gay crowd rather than just being gay-friendly. If that's what you are looking for there are a number of such bars along the avenue de Tivoli.
Most of the hotels in Lausanne are in the mid-price range, though there are also a number of luxury hotels as you would expect in the city which hosts the International Olympic Committee. There are also a few cheapies.
Lausanne, like most of Switzerland, is pretty safe in general. You are only likely to run into problems just outside of the entrances of popular dance clubs near closing time, when imported tensions sometimes show themselves. Name a conflict worldwide, odds are that both sides are represented among young people in Lausanne.
The city-owned power company, SIL, has now added high speed internet by cable to its C.V., and along with that has been installing totally free wireless access points around town, notably in Place Palud, Place St. François, the Flon valley, and on the hill of Montbenon near the casino. It's rare now to find a café in Lausanne which doesn't have access to one of these. As an aside SIL also provides a range of wines to those same cafés including a nice little Chardonnay, and a fairly bold Gamay. Neat huh?
One of the nicest ways to spend an afternoon anywhere is to take a boat from the port of Ouchy on the Lakefront of Lausanne to either Vevey or Montreux. The Steamboats of the CGN offer you an amazing view of one of the most gorgeous corners of our planet. On the left side of boat the you can take in the beautiful vineyards of Lavaux, and on the right side the Masif of Chablais, and the franco-swiss alpine giants, the Dents de Midi.
Here's a partial list of selected daytrips, in order of distance:
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LAUSANNE, the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud. It is the junction of the railway lines from Geneva, from Brieg and the Simplon, from Fribourg and Bern, and from Vallorbe (for Paris). A funicular railway connects the upper town with the central railway station and with Ouchy, the port of Lausanne on the lake of Geneva. Lausanne takes its name from the Flon stream flowing through it, which was formerly called Laus (water). The older or upper portion of the town is built on the crest and slopes of five hillocks and in the hollows between them, all forming part of the Jorat range. It has a picturesque appearance from the surface of the lake, above which the cathedral rises some Soo ft., while from the town there is a fine view across the lake towards the mountains of Savoy and of the Valais. The quaint characteristics of the hilly site of the old town have largely been destroyed by modern improvements, which began in 1836 and were not quite completed in 1910. The Grand Pont, designed by the cantonal engineer, Adrien Pichard (1790--1841), was built 1839-1844, while the Barre tunnel was pierced 1851-1855 and the bridge of Chauderon was built in 1905. The valleys and lower portions of the town were gradually filled up so as to form a series of squares, of which those of Riponne and of St Francois are the finest, the latter now being the real centre of the town. The railways were built between 1856 and 1862, while the opening of the Simplon tunnel (1906) greatly increased the commercial importance of Lausanne, which is now on the great international highway from Paris to Milan. From 1896 onwards a well-planned set of tramways within the town was constructed. The town is still rapidly extending, especially towards the south and west. Since the days of Gibbon (resident here for three periods, 1753-1758,1763-1764and 1783-1793), whose praises of the town have been often repeated, Lausanne has become a favourite place of residence for foreigners (including many English), who are especially attracted by the excellent establishments for secondary and higher education. Hence in 1900 there were 9501 foreign residents (of whom 628 were British subjects) out of a total population of 46,732 inhabitants; in 1905 it was reckoned that these numbers had risen respectively to 10,625, 818 and 53,577. In 1709 it is said that the inhabitants numbered but 7432 and 9965 in 1803, while the numbers were 20,515 in 1860 and 33,340 in 1888. Of the population in 1900 the great majority was French-speaking (only 6627 Germanspeaking and 3146 Italian-speaking) and Protestant (9364 Romanists and 473 Jews).
The principal building is the cathedral church (now Protestant) of Notre Dame, which with the castle occupies the highest position. It is the finest medieval ecclesiastical building in Switzerland. Earlier buildings were more or less completely destroyed by fire, but the present edifice was consecrated in 1275 by Pope Gregory X. in the presence of the emperor Rudolf of Habsburg. It was sacked after the Bernese conquest (1536) and the introduction of Protestantism, but many ancient tapestries and other precious objects are still preserved in the Historical Museum at Bern. The church was well restored at great cost from 1873 onwards, as it is the great pride of the citizens. Close by is the castle, built in the early 15th century by the bishops, later the residence of the Bernese bailiffs and now the seat of the various branches of the administration of the canton of Vaud. Near both is the splendid Palais de Rumine (on the Place de la Riponne), opened in 1906 and now housing the university as well, as the cantonal library, the cantonal picture gallery (or Musee Arlaud, founded 1841) and the cantonal collections of archaeology, natural history, &c. The university was raised to that rank in 1890, but, as an academy, dates from 1537. Among its former teachers may be mentioned Theodore Beza, Conrad Gesner, J. P. de Crousaz, Charles Monnard, Alexandre Vinet, Eugene Rambert, Juste Olivier and several members of the Secretan family. On the Montbenon heights to the southwest of the cathedral group is the federal palace of justice, the seat (since 1886) of the federal court of justice, which, erected by the federal constitution of 29th May 1874, was fixed at Lausanne by a federal resolution of 26th June 1874. The house, La Grotte, which Gibbon inhabited 1783-1793, and on the terrace of which he completed (1787) his famous history, was demolished in 1896 to make room for the new post office that stands on the Place St Francois. The asylum for the blind was mainly founded (1845) by the generosity of W. Haldimand, an Englishman of Swiss descent. The first book printed in Lausanne was the missal of the cathedral church (1493), while the Gazette de Lausanne (founded 1798) took that name in 1804. Lausanne has been the birthplace of many distinguished men, such as Benjamin Constant, the Secretans, Vinet and Rambert. It is the seat of many benevolent, scientific and literary societies and establishments.
The original town (mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary) was on the shore of the lake, near Vidy, south-west of the present city. It was burnt in the 4th century by the Alamanni. Some of the inhabitants took refuge in the hills above and there founded a new town, which acquired more importance when Bishop Marius about 590 chose it as his see city (perhaps transferring it from Avenches). Here rose the cathedral church, the bishop's palace, &c. Across the Flon was a Burgundian settlement, later known as the Bourg, while to the west was a third colony around the church of St Laurent. These three elements joined together to form the present city. The bishops obtained little by little great temporal powers (the diocese extended to the left bank of the Aar) and riches, becoming in 1125 princes of the empire, while their chapter was recruited only from the noblest families. But in 1368 the bishop was forced to recognize various liberties and customs that had been gradually won by the citizens, the Plaid General of that year showing that there was already some kind of municipal government, save for the cite, which was not united with the y ule inferieure or the other four quartiers (Bourg, St Laurent, La Palud and Le Pont) in 1481. In 1525 the city made an alliance with Bern and Fribourg. But in 1536 the territory of the bishop (as well as the Savoyard barony of Vaud) was forcibly conquered by the Bernese, who at once introduced Protestantism. The Bernese occupation lasted till 1798, though in 1723 an attempt was made to put an end to it by Major Davel, who lost his life in consequence. In 1798 Lausanne became a simple prefecture of the canton Leman.
of the Helvetic republic. But in 1803, on the creation of the canton of Vaud by the Act of Mediation, it became its capital. The bishop of Lausanne resided after 1663 at Fribourg, while from 1821 onwards he added "and of Geneva" to his title.
Besides the general works dealing with the canton of Vaud (q.v.), the following books refer specially to Lausanne: A. Bernus, L'Imprimerie a Lausanne et d Morges jusqu'd la fin du 161eme siècle (Lausanne, 1904); M. Besson, Recherches sur les origines des eveches de Geneve, Lausanne, Sion (Fribourg, 1906); A. Bonnard, "Lausanne au 181eme siècle," in the work entitled Chez nos aieux (Lausanne, 1902); E. Dupraz, La Cathedrale de Lausanne. etude historique (Lausanne, 1906); E. Gibbon, Autobiography and Letters (3 vols., 1896); F. Gingins and F. Forel, Documents concernant l'ancien eveche de Lausanne, 2 parts (Lausanne, 1846-1847); J. H. Lewis and F. Gribble, Lausanne (1909); E. van Muyden and others, Lausanne d travers les ages (Lausanne, 1906); Meredith Read, Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne and Savoy (2 vols., 1897); M. Schmitt, Memoires hist. sur le diocese de Lausanne (2 vols., Fribourg, 1859); J. Stammler (afterwards bishop of Lausanne), Le Tresor de la cathedrale de Lausanne (Lausanne, 1902; trans. of a German book of 1894).
(W. A. B. C.)
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Categories: LAO-LAV | Switzerland
Lausanne
[[File:|thumb|left|Cathedral Notre-Dame of Lausanne]]
| Lausanne | |
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| File:Coat of Arms of | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Vaud |
| District | Lausanne |
| Coordinates | 46°31′N 6°38′E |
| Population | 128,302 (2007) |
| Area | 41.37 km² (15.97 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 495 m (1,624 ft) 375 m - 900 m |
| Postal code | 1000-1018 |
| SFOS number | 5586 |
| Mayor (list) | Daniel Brélaz (as of 2007) Green |
| Demonym | Les Lausannois |
| Localities | Le Chalet-à-Gobet, Montblesson, Montheron, Ouchy, Vernand-Dessous, Vernand-Dessus, Vers-chez-les-Blanc |
| Surrounded by (view map) | Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Ecublens, Epalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), Maxilly-sur-Léman (FR-74), Montpreveyres, Morrens, Neuvecelle (FR-74), Prilly, Pully, Renens, Romanel-sur-Lausanne, Saint-Sulpice, Savigny |
| Website | www.lausanne.ch |
Lausanne is a city in Switzerland. It has a population of about 120,000 people. The city is the capital of the district Lausanne. It is also the capital of the canton of Vaud.frr:Lausanne
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