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Origin and history

Sixt Abbey, located in Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval in Haute-Savoie, is a former abbey of regular canons of the Abondance Congregation. Founded before 1144 on land granted by Aymon I, Sire de Faucigny, it was erected as an abbey on that date. The first buildings, organized around a Romanesque cloister, included a church and a south wing sheltering refectory, kitchen and dorm. The abbey played a key role in local pastoralism in the high mountains from the Middle Ages.

In the 13th century, the abbey was enriched by donations and privileges confirmed by the popes and lords of Faucigny. The church was partially rebuilt with a Gothic choir, and an eastern wing housing a capitular hall was added. The abbey became a place of burial for the local aristocracy, even temporarily hosting the remains of the heir of Vienna between 1282 and 1292. However, as early as 1411, the bishop of Geneva observed a relaxation of the regular life and the degraded state of the buildings.

The modern period was marked by major reconstructions. In 1558, the enclosure was rebuilt, and in the seventeenth century, Abbé Humbert de Mouxy undertook restoration work, including a new cloister and a ceiling decorated for the refectory. A fire in 1680 destroyed part of the abbey, requiring the reconstruction of the nave of the church, the eastern wing and the western wing. Despite these efforts, the abbey was closed in 1792 during the French invasion of Savoy, its goods sold as national goods.

In the 19th century, the buildings were transformed into inn and then into hotel until 1995, while briefly sheltering mining. In 1997, several elements of the abbey, including the church, attic and facades of the presbytery, were inscribed in the Historical Monuments. Since 2000, the Abbey has been owned by Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval and the Haute-Savoie department. Archaeological excavations carried out between 2010 and 2021 revealed remains of the 12th and 13th centuries, as well as remodeled burials and architectural elements.

Recent historical and archaeological research, including that of Sidonia Bochaton, has provided a better understanding of the evolution of the abbey, from its foundation to its disappearance. The archives, rediscovered in the early 2010s and transferred to the departmental archives, offer valuable insight into the life of the canons and the transformations of the site. Today, a restoration project aims to give the abbey a museum, environmental and cultural vocation, within the framework of the Grands Sites de France.

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