Church Refuge

There is evidence of a community living in the hamlet dating right back to 1492 and between 1724 and 1740 Pierre IV Guerin, Cardinal Tencin, was the Archbishop of Embrun, for the community. The church with a cemetery and bread oven are also noted in the Napoleonic cadastre. 

During the 1st and 2nd world wars, the hamlet was a thriving community and home to over 100 people. Only accessible at the time by horse and cart, the evolution of modern society and lure of larger villages and towns for work, as well as practical considerations such as the obligation for children to be scholarised led to the abandonment of the village. To avoid paying taxes on 'second homes' the owners took off the roof tiles which accelerated their demise into ruins.

The church, also in ruins, was bought by a group of individuals with the objective of renovating the site into a habitable community. The main restoration work was done on the church between 1974 and 1980 with some finishing touches done in 2008.

There is no electricity but the church is equipped with a wood burning stove, a gas cooker, basic crockery and utensils and furniture with a washing up station and dry toilet outside. Staying in this beautiful old church is like going back in time - very rustic but comfortable. 

The church is privately owned and Undiscovered Mountains are very lucky to have permission to use it for our wolf tracking and nature trips.