Discover St Sorlin through its monuments

You can now check all monuments from inside thanks to our virtual tours !
 

Old architecture

Old housing :

  • The walls of the old houses were very thick, consisting of two pyramidal dry-stone walls separated by a layer of soil serving as thermal insulation.
  • At the base they were 1.10 to 1.20 metre thick, at the top 0.70 metre. The very heavy framework rested on the walls.
  • In the past, all the roofs were thatched. The hamlets were destroyed by fire on numerous occasions. Slate and then galvanised sheet metal replaced the thatched roofs.
  • The roof with its wide canopy protected the balconies which housed the pile of wood reserves used for meal preparation, heating being assured by animal heat.
More information about the ancient architecture in french

 

L'architecture ancienne
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Chapelle St Joseph
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OT SSA

The village chapels

The village of Saint Sorlin d'Arves has four historic chapels steeped in history:

  • Saint-Pierre Chapel : Founded in 1483 by Pierre THIBIÉROZ, Saint Pierre Chapel is located at the entrance to the village, next to the new cemetery. It is the oldest building in the village.
  • The Prés Plans Chapel : Built in 1671 and restored in 1855, the Prés Plans Chapel was built in honour of the Virgin Mary under the name Notre-Dame-de-la-Vie.
  • The Saint-Joseph Chapel : Located in the hamlet of La Ville next to the old bread oven, the Saint Joseph Chapel was built in 1672 by Gilbert Didier, son of the late Sorlin Didier.
  • The Saint John the Baptist Chapel : Located in the hamlet of Pierre Aiguë, the Saint John the Baptist Chapel was founded in 1672 by Jean-Baptiste Bernard.

 

Discover all the monuments inside now with our virtual tours !
Renovation of the chapels: browse through the website of the Saint John the Baptist Association. 

Le costume traditionnel
2022 07 17_saint_sorlin_arves_fete village_285 © OT Saint Sorlin d'Arves - V Bellot-Mauroz.JPG

The traditional costume

The traditional women’s costume always consisted of the same pieces:

  • Shirt
  • Sleeves
  • Dress
  • Shawl
  • Wide belt
  • Apron
  • Bonnet
  • Jewellery 

In Saint Sorlin d'Arves, the men wore white jackets made of woollen cloth woven in the region.

More information about the traditional costume in french

 

Pierre BALMAIN, great French fashion designer

18 May 1914 - 29 June 1982

Born on 18th May 1914 in Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne (Savoie), Pierre Balmain left this town at the age of 11 to study in Chambery and then in Paris in order to become an architect, as his mother wished.

In 1945, Pierre Balmain opened his own boutique on Rue François 1er. He dressed the stars of the entertainment industry: Germaine Montero, Marlène Dietrich, Michèle Morgan, Katherine Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Dalida... and he was called upon to create the outfits for royal weddings.

When he died, his ashes were scattered in the Combe de la Balme, in the Maurienne, at the foot of the Saint Sorlin d’Arves glacier.

Evelyne DOMPNIER

More information about Pierre Balmain in french
Pierre Balmain - Couturier
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A bit of history...

 

The Arves Valley was populated very early on. Attached to the bishopric of St Jean de Maurienne, St Sorlin belonged to the Duchy of Savoy, which became part of France under the Treaty of Turin in 1860.

Due to its strategic border location, the village suffered numerous invasions and plagues.

Once exclusively pastoral, life there was difficult, isolated by the glacial barrier. The road built in 1900 made travel easier.

Leeks were grown there, sold in markets as far away as Grenoble and renowned for their taste.

The resort developed in the 1940s and 1950s with the construction of the first ski lift in 1948 and the opening of new shops. Real estate development mainly took place in the 1980s with the ski area.

Today, the resort is part of the Sybelles ski area, the fifth largest connected ski area in France. Investment in property and ski lifts has given the resort a new lease of life since it was linked to other resorts in 2003.
 

Saint Sorlin d'Arves - Col de la Croix de Fer - photo ancienne
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© "Maurienne Sabaudia"