Savoie
Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in south-eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. Part of its territory is home to the
Val Cenis Vanoise
Val Cenis is a ski and mountain resort situated in the Haute-Maurienne region of the French Alps, close to the Italian border. It is composed of five villages; Lanslebourg, Lanslevillard, Termignon, Sollières-Sardières and Bramans. The villages ...
ski resort. On 1 January 2017, it was merged with the former communes
Bramans
Bramans is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val-Cenis.Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis
Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val-Cenis.Sollières-Sardières and Termignon into the new commune
Val-Cenis
Val-Cenis is a commune in the department of Savoie, southeastern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Termignon (the seat), Bramans, Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis, Lanslevillard and Sollières ...
.
Geography
The village of Lanslevillard is situated at an altitude of 1480m, at the foot of the
Mont Cenis
, photo = Col du Mont Cenis.jpg
, photo_caption = Lake at the pass
, elevation_m = 2085
, elevation_ref =
, traversed = Route nationale 6
, map = Alps
, map_caption = Location of Col de Mont Cenis
, map_size =
, label = Col de Mont Ce ...
pass, in
Haute Maurienne
Haute may refer to:
People
* Nicholas Haute (1357 – c.1415), English knight, landowner and politician
** William Haute (MP) (1390-1462), son of Nicholas, Member of Parliament, English politician
** William Hawte or Haute (c. 1430 - 1497), son ...
, to the south of the Vanoise mountain range and 26 km north east of Modane.
The Arc river flows through the village.
Place name
According to the Canon Adolphe Gros, the name of the commune and parish of Lanslevillard stems from the surname ''Lanzo, Lanz'' or ''Lans.'' Another possibility is ''Lancius'.'' The addition of the title ''Le villard'' - from the Latin ''villaris, villare'', meaning a house in the country - to ''Lans'' seems to have been done in order to distinguish the parish from that of Lanslebourg. Around the 12th C these two parishes were one and the same.
As early as 1093 there is mention of the parish as ''In superiori Lancio'', or ''Ecclesia de Lanzo superiore'' in 1126. In 1151 it is cited as ''Ecclesia de Villario,'' then ''Ecclesia de superiori Lancio'' in 1204 and 1233. ''Le Villar(d)'' was therefore added sometime after the 12th C. At the end of the 13th C, the parish is designated as ''Magiester Joannes de Lancio Villario'' (1293). In the 14th C it becomes ''Curatus Lancei Villaris'' or ''Parrochia Lancei Villaris in Mauriana'' (1357). It is only in the 16th C that the modern form of ''Lanslevillard,'' or sometimes a derivative, ''Lanslevilar'', sometimes written Lans-Le-Villard, appears.
In francoprovençal, the name of the commune is written ''Lô Vlâr'' or ''Vêlard.''
History
Human presence in Maurienne and Lanslevillard can be traced back as far as the La Tène period, specifically with the presence of a burial site in the ''l'Adroit'' locality. There are many examples of rock art in the communes of Termignon, Lanslebourg, Lanslevilalrd and Bessans, especially around the Grand roc noir rock carving site. The territory of the Lanslevillard commune is home to two rocks bearing
cup and ring mark
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France ( Brittany), Portugal, and Spain (Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in ...
s, classed as historical monuments ( ''Monuments historiques'') since 1911:
* the ''Pierre aux Pieds'' (the Foot Rock), situated at an altitude of 2750m on the Pisselerand plateau, on which around fifty cup marks and thirty carved human foot prints can be seen.
* the ''Pierre de Chantelouve'' or ''Pierre des Saints'', situated at an altitude of 2100m, on which 150 cup marks can be seen.
Before the Roman conquest, the upper valley of the Maurienne was populated principally by the Medulli people from as early as the 3rd century BCE. They were finally conquered in 16 BCE and integrated into the Roman empire. The Romans subsequently built the ''
Via Francigena The Via Francigena () is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It w ...
'', connecting Canterbury to Rome, which passed over the Mont Cenis pass.
During the French Revolutionary period, French troops invaded Savoie. General Sarret moved up the Maurienne right to the head of the valley in April 1794. He was then stopped by savoyard soldiers loyal to the ''Maison de Savoie''. This military victory caused an outpouring of joy in the villages of Lanslevillard and Lanslebourg, and, in reaction to the hostility of the Mauriennais, the revolutionary army deported the inhabitants to ''Fort-Barraux'' ( Barraux) on the 19th and 20 April 1794. They were returned home on the 2nd of July.
In the past, it was impossible to take the Mont Cenis pass without the help of a "''Marron''", a local guide who helped travelers along the sinuous paths to Italy in all weather. Nowadays, walkers can still make their way up to the pass via the "''chemin de la Ramasse''", the same path that the "Marrons' once used.
In 1812, doctor Balthazard Claraz saved the life of
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a ...
at the Mont-Cenis hospice, as the Pope was being secretly transferred from Savona to Fontainebleau, where he would remain prisoner from the 20th of June 1812 to the 23 of January 1814.
During the Second World War, the Germans occupied the village, and burned most of it to the ground upon pulling out. The only surviving parts of the original village are the church, the school house and some of the houses surrounding these two buildings.