Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame des Alpes was built between 1936 and 1938 in the Fayet district, in the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie). Decided in 1934 by Father Domenget, pastor of the time, his construction was entrusted to Savoyard architect Maurice Novarina, who applied a so-called style of modernized regionalism. The building was consecrated on 26 June 1938 by Bishop de La Villerabel, under the name of Notre-Dame-des-Alpes, to serve a new parish created in 1929, bringing together Le Fayet, Les Plagnes and Domancy.

The architecture of the church is inspired by the Savoyard mountain environment: low roofs evoking cottages, chimney-shaped bell tower, and use of local materials (granite, stone, oak, slate). The gate is embedded in the facade, and the interior combines oak frame, wooden vault, and an altar in jasper. The natural lighting is reinforced by a well of light above the choir, highlighting frescoes and stained glass windows.

The stained glass windows, made of glass mosaic tiles by Jean Gaudin after the cartons of Alexander Cingria, illustrate biblical scenes such as the Annunciation or Calvary. This innovative technique, experienced in 1927, uses coloured glass pieces set in cement. The frescoes of the choir, painted with bee wax by Paul Monnier, represent the Assumption of the Virgin surrounded by Savoyard saints, while the exterior sculptures are the work of François Baud and those of Jean Constant Demaison.

The church embodies a synthesis between architectural modernity and local traditions, reflecting the religious and cultural identity of Haute Savoie in the 20th century. Its decoration, marked by French and French Swiss artists, makes it a remarkable artistic testimony of the inter-war period.

In 1988, three sculptors (Cerrutti, Chamosset, Darbouret) added figures from the Trinity, completing a collection of sacred art and mountain heritage. Today, the church remains an active place of worship and an example of modernized regionalism advocated by Maurice Novarina, also author of other religious buildings in Haute-Savoie.

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