The Beaufortain Mountains are rich in local culture, history, industry and natural heritage. Here are some sites to visit:
Hauteluce eco-museum:
Find out about life in the past through an exposition of tools and local costumes, the reconstruction of a traditional house and a class room from former times.. Open July & August 10.00 – 12.00 and 15.00 - 19.00. Closed all day Friday & Tuesday mornings. Free entry. Information: +33 (0)4.79.38.80.31 / +33 (0)4.79.38.21.64
The church of Saint Jacques d'Assyrie in Hauteluce village:
Dating from 1558, is an example of Baroque art in the Savoie. It is a classified historical building, which has a magnificent onion-shaped dome 55 m high overlooking the valley. Open every day from 09.00 – 19.00.
Villard-sur Doron:
This village is worth a detour, to see its 12th century church, and also the town hall which still has its bread oven and a beautiful vaulted cellar. Open 15th June – 15th September, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 10.00 – 12.00 and 15.00 – 17.00.
Patrimony guided visits:
There are guided visits of baroque churches and surrounding chapels, villages and hamlets organized by the FACIM. Information: +33 (0)4.79.60.59.00
Les Saisies a story of resistance:
Les Saisies is a unique historic site as important in its own right as the Plateau des Glières in the Haute Savoie, both being important bastions of the Resistance. Roger Frison-Roche (a well known Beaufortaine author) recounts in his novel "Les montagnards de la nuit" (Mountain people of the night): "from 1941, the Beaufortain became a stronghold for the Resistance. The special location of the plateau of Les Saisies became the stage of Operation "Ebonite", intended to arm the 3000 Resistance members of the Beaufortain, the Tarentaise, the Val d'Arly and the Maurienne. August 1st 1944, in full daylight, 78 flying fortresses (B17) of the US Air Force, accompanied by thirty fighters, dropped 899 arms containers and 7 men by parachute ... Parachutes were falling like snow flakes!" A monument erected on the pass at Les Saisies commemorates this period of the history of France so that it stays engraved on memories forever.
Hydro electrical industry & dams:
The Beaufortain is also a flagship of the hydro electricity industry and contains no less than 4 dams. The most impressive by its size is theprestigious Roselend dam (800 m long, 150 m high which can contain as much as 187 million m3 of water). The three others, although smaller, are no less interesting each possessing their particular characteristics. The Girotte dam was the first construction in Beaufortain in 1946; it contains 50 million m3 of water. It is one of the rare to come under a glacial regime, which means that it fills up from the snow melt from the Tré-la-tête glacier in the Mont-Blanc massif. This gives the water a characteristic taste. This dam is not accessible on foot. The Gittaz dam was built in 1967 providing 13 million m3 of water. In 1960 the St Guérin dam was built stocking 13 million m3 of water. This summer (17th June - 30th September) there was an exposition in the Salle Ducis at Hauteluce (centre of the village below the eco-museum). The theme was: "Water and its many uses/L'eau, ses multiples usages" . Information: Syndicat d'initiative +33 (0)4.79.38.21.64 There is a exposition of the 4 dams of the Beaufortain area (Roselend , Girotte, Gittaz and Saint Guérin) and the power station of La Bâthie as well as renewable energies, in particular hydro electricity. There are explications of the multiple uses of water with scale models: electricity production, sporting and tourist activities, agriculture etc
To download the dams documentation in Le Beaufortain country please click here.
Les Saisie's peat bog:
290 hectares, situated between 1550 and 1718 m altitude, is a unique natural site in the Alps and a relic of the Würm glacial period! It originated from the passage of the tip of a glacier through the pass. This type of peat bog is normally found in the Scandinavian mountains making it a very rare site in France. Les Saisie's peat bog, listed in the "Natura 2000" programme, is a classified zone for its flora and fauna and protected by a biotope decree of 1989 prohibiting the picking of all plants.
To get more information about Le Beaufortain visits you click here to download the full documentation.
