Origin and history
The church of Notre-Dame-de-All-les-Saints d'Entremont, located in the Borne valley in Haute-Savoie, has its origins in the 12th century. Founded in 1115 by the monks of the Abbey of Abondance, it was originally dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. From its creation it served both as a place of monastic and parish worship, as evidenced by a pastoral visit of 1445. The primitive Romanesque building was partially destroyed by the weather, requiring repairs ordered in 1411 by the bishop of Geneva, Jean de Bertrand.
In the 15th century, the church was redesigned and enriched with relics embedded in a Marian statue, giving it the term Notre-Dame-de-All-Les-Saints. These relics, attributed to saints such as Andrew, Augustine, or Marie-Madeleine, attracted pilgrims from the 16th century. A local legend says that a mule, carrying a shawl containing the relics of Saint Colombe, would have pushed down the church door, leaving the imprint of a mule iron still visible today. The church also housed a flask called ampoule of the milk of the Virgin, an object of devotion for the women of the valley.
The seventeenth century marked a turning point with the arrival of Abbé Marc-Antoine de Granery in 1645. Under his abbatiat, important works were undertaken, including the reconstruction of the bell tower in 1607 (upgraded in 1766) and the renovation of the nave in 1680. Granery gave the church a monumental Baroque altarpiece, completed in 1685, considered a masterpiece of Savoyard art. This altarpiece, in double structure, is decorated with gilded sculptures, torso columns inspired by Le Bernin, and surmounted by the Abbé's weapons. The exterior frescoes, restored in 1890 and 1987, reflect its neoclassical influence.
The interior of the church, with a single vessel, separates the nave from the faithful from the choir of the canons by a broken bow. The ceiling of the nave, decorated with symbols of theological virtues (foi, hope, charity), was added in 1680, replacing a damaged Gothic vault. The lateral altars, dedicated to the Holy Family and the Rosary, date from the same period and contain classified paintings, such as that representing the Virgin giving the Rosary to Saint Dominique. The 15th century stalls, flamboyant style, and the baptismal fonts of 1503 complete this remarkable furniture.
The treasure of the church, classified as a historical monument, includes medieval reliquaries, including a 13th century reliquary arm and a 12th century Byzantine chassise attributed to the workshop of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune. A 16th-century Virgin Reliquary, containing the "bulb of the milk of the Virgin", was the object of an annual pilgrimage between 15 August and 8 September, attracting the faithful to neighbouring parishes. This pilgrimage, called a "generalist", sometimes honored Notre-Dame-de-All-les-Saints, and sometimes the relics of the saints preserved in the church.
Successive restorations, including those of 1890, 1920, and 2018, helped preserve this heritage. The last campaign, supported by the Heritage Foundation and the DRAC, won the "Aurhalpin du Patrimoine" prize in 2019. The church, always active, bears witness to the religious and artistic history of Haute-Savoie, mixing Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque influences.
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