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Saint-Vincent - The raccards in Valmignanaz
Architecture, expression of a cultural area that takes in the Col di Joux
Location
181 km from Annecy, 91 km from Chamonix, 167 km from Geneva and 35 km from Aosta.
Architectural topics
The hillside of Saint-Vincent proudly includes several raccards within its numerous villages (barns with a central area to work the wheat) similar to those in the Valle d’Ayas. In fact, in the XVII century and the start of the XVIII century, the same carpenters worked on both sides of the Col di Joux. Furthermore, numerous families had relations and their homes, whether in stone or in wood, were part of the same cultural area. The land surrounding the
181 km from Annecy, 91 km from Chamonix, 167 km from Geneva and 35 km from Aosta.
Architectural topics
The hillside of Saint-Vincent proudly includes several raccards within its numerous villages (barns with a central area to work the wheat) similar to those in the Valle d’Ayas. In fact, in the XVII century and the start of the XVIII century, the same carpenters worked on both sides of the Col di Joux. Furthermore, numerous families had relations and their homes, whether in stone or in wood, were part of the same cultural area. The land surrounding the
villages on the hillside were cultivated with grain and straw. A stone's throw from the houses is a water basin, dug out of the ground, that was filled with water from the mountain Ru (Rio), coming from the Ayas glaciers. The Ru Courthod goes right through Col di Joux after running for almost 27 km along an extremely gentle slope, through pastures, woods and rocks. The villages of Lérinon, Crétamignanaz and Valmignanaz are the best preserved. This allows you to follow a loop route and observe three kinds of inhabited villages: Lerinon with its oven for bread and its large stone multi-purpose houses; a little further down, Crétamignanaz, an abandoned
village formerly belonged to just one family and, lastly, Valmignanaz with its different examples of raccards with a central threshing area, overhanging barns and raising blocks on a house of two or three floors in brick, housing the stable downstairs and accommodation on the upper floor. Valmignanaz has the advantage of being located on the edge of the road for Col di Joux and can make the most of the car park at Grun.
