The glacial valley national park of Valsavarenche retains some unique architecture high up the valley. The valley was long reserved a retreat for the kings of Savoy and then Italy. Development was limited and wildlife protected with hunting permitted only with the King’s assent, which usually meant his participation.
Valsavarenche endues a harsh Alpine climate; granite and timber are available locally in abundance so it’s no surprise most structures use these as the main building materials. The older structures are a wooden hut on pillars of granite stones. Some have stone hearths in the centre. This plan seems to have grown outwards with the whole of the lower floors comprising small boulder stonework and providing shelter for the animals with human habitation above. The roofs evolve from timber poles to slabs of granite gneiss worked to flat slabs. Concrete arrives and replaces stonework; newer buildings are block work with traditional-looking timber roofs with granite slabs as tiles. One or two buildings have the look of military barracks so might have housed the King’s escort.
