Church of St. Bernard of Menthon: Free entry

At the heart of this international winter sports resort, St. Bernard of Menthon, patron saint of skiers and protector of travellers and alpine mountain passes, is worshipped in this solid mountain church, one of the surviving traces of the original village.

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Descriptif

Situated at the foot of Col de l'Iseran, the Val d'Isère church is flanked by a bell tower built in 1664 in the Romanesque tradition. Its octagonal masonry spire, rising to 33 metres, is one of the rare spires to have been spared by the revolutionaries in 1794.
The date 1531, carved into the right-hand side of the choir's tufa arch, is a reminder of the privilege granted to the inhabitants of Val d'Isère by Pope Urban VIII, who finally authorised them "to build a church with baptismal fonts, bell tower and cemetery". This was to save the inhabitants the long and perilous journey to Tignes!
The main altarpiece, although generally Baroque in inspiration, contains elements from several eras: four twisted columns, wrapped in vine branches and rosebushes, frame a central painting depicting St. Bernard of the Alps, St. Maurice and St. Peter II of Tarentaise, overlooked by the Coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity. Two kneeling angels are holding a shell cartouche dated 1831.
At the front, where all eyes meet, the fully gilded tabernacle sharply contrasts with the predominantly green polychrome of the ensemble.
Two large altarpiece paintings that were removed during alterations to the side naves now hang from the walls of the choir; one represents a Crucifixion and the other a Virgin of Mercy. Today, the St. Anne altar, with its 1790 painting, is found at the end of the left-hand nave, whereas the right-hand nave has the Rosary altar with its depiction of the fifteen major events in the life of Mary: the Mysteries.
The most recent refurbishments to this testament to the life of a village that became a resort date back to 1963...