Heritage & traditionArchitectural HeritageCraftsmanship
The Nax bisse, first recorded in 1529, provides water to power this sawmill. The same bisse captures the flow of the Derotchia which for centuries was used to irrigate the Nax plateau, the Villette hillside and from late in the 19th century the Pierrogière vineyards.
Don’t miss a chance to visit the communal ovens where the whole community used to come to bake bread. Attractive stone constructions in joint ownership, these ovens were in use up till the Second World War. Wartime food rationing and the appearance of the first bakeries in the valley saw the village ovens fall into disuse. Old people still talk fondly of these ovens, and of a life of sharing, living in a community where life was sometimes hard…
