Baroque art in Haute Maurienne Vanoise
High place of the baroque art
Push open the doors to discover treasures of Baroque art
The churches of Haute Maurienne Vanoise are particularly distinctive, with their massive appearance and "Lombard" style bell tower topped by a spire surrounded by four small "clochetons". While the exterior may appear a little austere, simply push open the doors to discover Baroque art treasures.
Twisted columns, chubby cherubs, murals, baroque altarpieces bursting with gold and color, the chapels and churches of Haute Maurienne Vanoise reveal flamboyant interiors.
Witness to a popular mountain faith, some twenty chapels and churches dating from the 16th century to the present day dot the villages, hamlets and roadsides.
Some are open all year round, such as the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church in Aussois, or the recently restored Val Cenis-Lanslevillard church with its magnificent murals. Others are only open for guided tours (in Avrieux and Val Cenis-Lanslevillard, for example), but all offer nuggets of Baroque art that must have been a foretaste of paradise.