Aix les Bains - Chindrieux

Practical info

Distance : 18.5km

Time : 6h30

Elevation uphill : + 985m

Elevation downhill : - 908m

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Heritage Accommodation & services Comments

CHAUTAGNE

At the northern end of the Bourget Lake, Chindrieux is the largest municipality of the Chautagne (canton of Ruffieux), and includes 13 hamlets: Groisin, Lachat, Expilly, Portout, Viuz, Chevigneux, Praz, Vars, la Tour, Chaudieu, Rigolet, Champfleury, and Châtillon.

The hamlet of Châtillon used to be the capital of Chautagne and the Châtillon Castle is an ancient fortified castle from the 11th century. The walls, which were built from limestone and tuff, date back to the 13th century. The buildings were built between the 13th and 15th centuries. As the center point for the Chautagne fiefdom, it was controlled by the Montluel, the Seyssel d'Aix, the Rambert, and then the Anglejean-Châtillon. Alphonse de Lamartine also lived in the castle during the summer of 1819. The castle's strategic position above the Bourget Lake gave it control of the one of the main thoroughfares in south-eastern Gaul.

During the 11th century, the Catholic Church was faced with a lack of discipline and scheming priests in Chautagne and other regions. However the church also benefited from renewed faith due to fears about the end of the world in the year 1000. The clergy called upon religious orders to reestablish probity in the church. In Chautagne, the only parish that avoided being given to an order was that of Motz. The church, a part of its tithes, and other revenues were controlled by the Bishop of Geneva, who nominated the church's priest. Competition between the various parishes was sometimes quite fierce. Priests accused each other of using ecclesiastical wealth for their own purposes and offering no help to the populace.

Below are several examples of obligations met by priories and parishes: The Chindrieux priory had charitable obligations on "dimanche gras" (Sunday gras), the priory offered the "aumône de la grossette", which consisted of giving rye-bread to the populace from 3 p.m. until no one was left asking. In Serrières, parishioners were responsible for the maintenance of the nave. However the priest had to contribute as well: on Corpus Christi, he had to offer 8 jugs of wine to his flock. With a treaty in 1529, he also agreed to read the Passion during every Mass from May to September in exchange for 12 jugs of wine.

Source : "CHAUTAGNE (Histoire de l'ancienne) depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à la Révolution. Tome II", "Jules Masse", "2008, re-edited in 1912".

Most of the Savoie's massifs are Alpine and include the Bauges, the Chartreuse, the Lauzière, the Vanoise, and the Beaufortain. In addition to these massifs, the Savoie encompasses part of the Jura. Located in the western part of the department, in what is known as the "Avant-pays savoyard", these regions include the Mont du Chat, the Épine and the Chambotte massif. The Chautagne represents the geological frontier between the Alps and the Jura and is part of the "Avant-pays savoyard." The region has a limestone backbone and is part of a secondary range of the Jura, which extends all the way to Switzerland. These limestone ridges, which give the region its rugged appearance, date back to the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras.

The Chautagne vineyards span roughly 200 hectares along the western edge of the Chambotte massif and near the Bourget Lake. The vineyards run from north to south on the slopes of the Gros Foug Mountain (Motz), the Mont Clergeon, the Cessens Mountain, the Mont Laval, and the Mont de Corsuet (Brison St-Innocent).

Between Le Bugey and the Bauges, the Chautagne is marked by the passage of glaciers over the last 10,000 years. The vines are located on the left bank of the Rhône before the river flows far from the Bourget Lake.