The Tonnaz Cross

C’est l’histoire d’une croix qui a retrouvé la lumière et sa place au cœur du hameau de la Tonnaz après 225 ans d’attente, grâce à la mobilisation des habitants du hameau, de l’association « Praz atre koue e vorandre » et de la mairie de Praz-sur-Arly.
A story that begins a very long time ago, around the year 1500, the estimated date of the construction of the chapel of La Thona (old spelling found in the archives). At that time, Praz was not a commune. Its hamlets depend on Megève and La Thona is the largest in the sector in terms of number of inhabitants.

The chapel of La Tonnaz, as well as that of Bonne Fontaine (Flumet), will suffer a cruel fate on May 8, 1794: an irrevocable destruction, following the annexation of Savoy by France in 1792. The explanation? A suspicion of the practice of clandestine worship exercises as well as gatherings of assemblies hidden from the sight of municipal officers. Same thing for the other chapel, called Bonne Fontaine, located in the town of Flumet, which also served as a gathering place for the "fanatics" of these two towns.

The municipality of Megève therefore had the order to destroy them. Citizen Mathieu Arvin-Bérod, a municipal officer, was appointed to oversee the execution of this decision.