Chapelle du Château

The hidden treasures of the valley's parishes are now brought to light in this exhibition in the Castle Chapel. Come and discover a glimpse of the history of religious life in the Alps thanks to these emblematic objects...

The outside wall of the Chapel also offers a little trip back in time with a photo exhibition on hotel advertising in the valley from 1860 to 1960...

Exhibition at the Castle Chapel
Sacred art and treasures from the parishes of Val d'Anniviers from the 14th to the 19th century.

When Jean-Louis Claude from Zinal made an inventory of the objects of worship in the parishes of Anniviers, he found that each parish possessed sacred objects, real treasures hidden from the public eye, some of them completely unknown to the people of Anniviers. This is why the project to exhibit these emblematic objects in the "Notre-Dame-de-Compassion" chapel in Vissoie is such a great opportunity to reveal a historical aspect of religious life in the Alps.

Exterior wall of the Castle Chapel
Photo exhibition: A century of hotel advertising in Val d'Anniviers (1860-1960)

In the hustle and bustle of the 19th century, the whole of Europe travelled to see the sun rise over the Alps. From lakeshores to panoramic promontories, hotels and palaces flourished. A new era was dawning, that of the holiday resort, which combined the pleasant with the useful.
In 1863, the Englishman Thomas Cook organised the first group trip to Switzerland. The arrival of the railway helped to open up the Alps to tourists. From then on, travel ceased to be the privilege of the wealthy few and became the pastime of a much wider section of society: the cultivated bourgeoisie, financiers, industrialists, career officers, teachers, civil servants, politicians, etc.

The Val d'Anniviers, still a very isolated region in the middle of the 19th century, was no exception to this phenomenon. Some of the locals were quick to see where their interests lay. At first, in Zinal and Luc, two guides were content to set up a few rooms in their house before converting it into an inn. Very soon, as the number of visitors increased, hotels were built in Zinal, St-Luc, Vissoie, Chandolin, Grimentz and Ayer, because travellers had to be accommodated decently in establishments that were as comfortable as they were pleasant.