La boucle des hameaux

Its frontage ornament with painted scenes prefigures the Baroque design inside.ND-de Tout-Pouvoir, like other neighbouring pilgrimage chapels, features a plan in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by an octagonal dome topped by a lantern. The outside of this elegant building features surprising decorative details including painted scenes that provide a hint of décor inside the chapel. In 1780, two brothers, Pierre and Joseph Desdominique, decorated the eight-sided dome with episodes illustrating the life of the Virgin Mary. The pendentives are also adorned with images of the four evangelists. In 1850, paintings were added to the walls and pillars although only the Four Fathers of the Latin Church today remain. A holy statue of the Virgin Mary, to whom the sanctuary was originally dedicated, once occupied the niche of the 1754 Baroque altarpiece but it was destroyed during the French Revolution and replaced by a 19th century statue of the Madonna and Child. Between the twisted columns, beneath the altar curtain, are statues of Saint Joachim and Saint Joseph, the father and husband of Mary respectively.

Here, we take care of our onions: The bell tower, with its double bulbous spire, has one of the most recognisable silhouettes in Savoy! The interior decoration is a fine example of the persistence of baroque inspiration beyond the Revolution.This is a bell tower that can be seen and recognised from afar! Destroyed during the Revolution, it was not until 1824 that it was rebuilt with a double bulbous spire, identical to the old one. The second one, "onion-shaped", is surmounted by the globe dominated by the cross and the rooster. Inside the building, rebuilt from 1732, almost all the furniture was also damaged in 1794: the church was used as a warehouse until 1800! It was not until 1840 that the sculptor Pedrino created the new main altarpiece: on either side of the central painting, a copy of the Transfiguration of Christ (a painting by Raphael kept in the Vatican), stand the statues of Saint Agatha and Saint Francis de Sales. The pulpit (decorated with the four evangelists and the Good Shepherd) was created by the sculptor Duithe, from Beaufort, in 1856... and don't forget the altarpiece of the Rosary, characteristic of the baroque period. In 1876, the building was extended: a new gallery was created, larger than the old one. The baroque portal from 1735 was fortunately moved to the new façade, where the statues of Moses, Elijah and the Sacred Heart were placed...

Chapelle Saint-Jacques is the oldest and largest chapel in the parish and resembles a genuine church. Step inside and discover its three colourful altarpieces and learn about the expertise and knowhow of artists from the Baroque period.The chapel was founded following the act of 12 July 1430 and built in honour of James the Greater or Saint James the Assyrian, the first Bishop of Tarentaise during the 5th century. Although the chapel only has a "simple" altarpiece, the main décor at the end of the chancel, is indeed a remarkable piece of work, featuring, on either side of the central painting, volute wings and caryatids. But the building also features secondary altar pieces, facing each other, that demonstrate the development in artistic taste between the 18th and 19th centuries. In the past, every Sunday, a low mass (where prayers were recited rather than sung) was celebrated in the chapel before those parishioners who were able, walked to the main town of Bozel to attend high mass. By 1300, the Brotherhood of Saint-Esprit - the valley's oldest known charitable institution - from Villemartin, was already in existence. The role of the Brotherhood in Villemartin is now a thing of the past; previously, however, every year, at the end of July, they used to prepare a special soup (the soupe de la Saint-Jacques) in a cauldron; the day before the celebration, families were asked for food - butter, beans, potatoes etc - to make the soup which was then distributed to the poor the following day, immediately after mass, with bread also provided by each family. And it's a tradition that continues to this day.