AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Perched at 1,375 metres on a rocky promontory above the Blanche valley, the Chapelle de la Salette marks the exact spot where the medieval village of Montclar once stood. Built in 1864 on the vestiges of the community's original parish church, this small stone chapel carries a name borrowed from one of France's most famous Marian apparitions — Our Lady of La Salette, who appeared to two children in the Isère Alps in 1846.↗↗↗
Today the chapel is a destination for a gentle half-day hike from the village center below, rewarding walkers with sweeping views over the valley and the rooftops of the modern hamlet of Serre-Nauzet. It belongs to a constellation of nine religious buildings scattered around Montclar's hillsides, each a quiet testimony to centuries of Alpine faith.↗↗↗
A Village Lost to Time
The story of the Chapelle de la Salette begins long before the chapel itself. In the Middle Ages, the entire community of Montclar sat here on this hilltop, gathered around a church first recorded in 1351 under the dedication of Saint Michel. Life on this exposed rock — difficult to reach, harsh in winter — gradually drove the population downhill. By the early sixteenth century, the old fortified village was abandoned, and the community rebuilt their parish church in the valley below at a place called le Vallon.
