Along the alleys of Besse-en-Oisans, the charm works and silence prevails. The other senses awaken to better soak up the serenity of the place... Let the stones tell you about the harshness of life at an altitude of 1 m, but also the beautiful energy of a community of united farmers who love their part of Oisans.
Everything here is mineral, the cobbled streets, the walls of houses, barns, elsewhere in wooden frames, the wash houses and even the roofs in the past.
The sober charm of small mountain villages has found its ambassador, Besse-in-Oisans. Visit this relaxing little village where it is good to walk, get lost and find yourself again...
Besse-en-Oisans, listed as a Remarkable Heritage Site
The architectural quality of the houses of Besse, which stands out from other surrounding villages, explains its inclusion in the inventory of picturesque sites of Isère since 1982 and then of Remarkable Heritage Sites in 2016.
Built from local stone from head to toe, these old farms are a testament to the construction techniques of the time. Know-how recognized by the architects of the Bâtiments de France because the Bessats built their own houses with materials available locally and they have stood the test of time.
But beyond a remarkable concrete interest, this classification above all reflects an intangible, soothing feeling, that of being seduced by the place.
The set formed by Besse, the hamlets of Bonnefin and Sert, has since been monitored by the architects of buildings of France. Any renovation, construction or demolition project is submitted to an architect to check that the work does not harm the aesthetics of the village.
Portrait of Besse-in-Oisans
Birch trees, meaning of “Besse" in local dialect, originally surrounded the village. And yet, after having cut down large areas of forest to cultivate the land, wood was lacking. This rare commodity was not chosen for the construction of houses, as can be seen elsewhere in Oisans where only the ground floor, with the stable and the dwelling, are made of stone and the barn floors of wood. This shortage will be an opportunity to Besse, because, all dressed in stone, the houses are built to last and the village will go through the centuries without changing its appearance.
"A hundred years ago, the physiognomy of this one was identical. The inhabitants of the past have left their mark definitively."
A little geography
The village of Besse rests on a southern slope, the sunny side, which has all the advantages for setting up a community: the presence of water, the gentler slope of the mountain, good exposure to the sun, even in winter, and the proximity of an ocean of greenery, the high mountain pastures of the Emparis plateau. Today the location is ideal to enjoy the serenity of the place, so that residents and visitors alike can find the peace of a simple life close to nature.
However, Besse was not always isolated, in its little corner of the valley, far from the road between Grenoble and Briançon, between France and Italy. The village was located on another important communication route at the time, on the road to Savoy.
Indeed, For centuries Besse was on a major communication route between France and Savoy, which only became French in 1860. The boundary between the communes of Saint-Sorlin d'Arves and Besse-en-Oisans was a frontier. Under Louis XIV, a military camp was set up in the summer at the Col des Prés Nouveaux to guard the border. The necessary supplies, food and ammunition, were stored at Besse in a building specially built for this purpose, "the barracks." Passengers, merchants, livestock and goods passed through the pass. A customs office, in the current tourist café/grocery store, was located in the center of the village.
This is probably why the population of the village reached up to 1200 inhabitants in the 19th century.th century!
The little unusual info
With the construction of the Chambon dam between 1929 and 1937, the year it was put into service, electricity arrives at Besse in 1931. ! The Haut-Oisans intercommunal union, created on January 6, 1927, manages the supply of 6 villages: Besse, Clavans, Mizoën, Freney, Mont-de-Lans and Auris.
The imprint of the Bessats of yesteryear
The sturdy houses of the village are the testimony of Bessate agriculture. We find in their architecture the marks of their old farm functionMade from blocks of schist or tuff and with roofs covered in slate or flagstone, they are proof that working with stone can be both a technical and aesthetic art.
The inhabitants built their own houses with the materials that were on site: stones from the stream, flat schist stones, slates from the hamlet of Bonnefin, earth for the mortar and birch trunks for the framework. A typical house was therefore built only from local materials. It is set into the slope, the ground floor includes the stable and the living quarters, most of the time one and the same room. The entrance was the same for men and animals. Above was the barn where straw and hay were stored.
On the main facade, a wooden balcony served as a drying room for the faggots and the "blaittes", small blocks of well-packed sheep manure, used as fuel for the stove due to lack of wood. And you will notice triangle shaped holes On the facades, they served as ventilation for the hay.
The roofs had a slight slope so that the slates do not slip. The steeper ones are more recent. Today, they are covered with sheet metal, which is easier to install and lighter.
Strolling through the “calades” of Besse
To discover the mineral charm of the entire village, take a stroll along the “calades”, alleys paved with stones from the Guay stream. Steep and narrow, they wind between the houses, opening onto a charming little square with its stone washhouse him too, then take you further, perhaps to the artisan bakery…
Thanks to the narrowness of the alleys, The houses are particularly close together and give the village this impression of a "shell". Climb to the heights of the village to see it for yourself!
This grouped habitat had several advantages: huddled together, the houses protected themselves from the cold and heavy snowfalls; in addition, the relatively flat space was optimized.
A rich religious heritage
The current church is relatively recent, having been built between 1869 and 1877. The old one was too small for the thousand inhabitants at the time. It was renovated without any modifications in the 1990s. The religious heritage of Besse can also be discovered along the path of the oratories and the day of the blessing of the flocks on the mountain pastures in summer.
Tempted by a visit to the village of Besse ?
We won't tell you any more, if this little presentation has made you want to soak up the serene air of Besse-in-Oisans, go through the Maison des Alpages to follow the guide through the cobbled streets. The village visit is an immersion in Alpine land…