1.769 meters
Pracharbon Pratcharbón
Les Fusines Li Fejeune – 1.700 m
Blanchard Biantchart – 1.724 m
Rovinal Rovénal – 1.709 m
Praz-Sec Pra-Sec – 1.700 m
Les Péyoz Li Péyo – 1.725 m
Les Droles Li Drole – 1.757 m
Bernosin Bernozìn – 1.750 m
The name of this large clearing opening within the forest (“charcoal meadow,” Pratcharbón in patois) recalls the ancient activity of producing charcoal used for smelting copper ore, extracted from the Mont-Rôs mine above Antagnod at various times throughout the 18th century.
The place, therefore used as an actual charcoal production site, never developed into a village and, once the mining activities had ended, was chosen as early as the 1930s by the Salesian religious order to establish a summer camp for boys, the Alpeggio Missionario Don Bosco. Even today, the large building, bearing the name Soggiorno Don Bosco, in direct contact with nature, offers school-age children the opportunity for a holiday through moments of reflection and prayer, games, and walks through the woods.
Map of Pracharbon
Chapel of Saint Martin of Tours
Chapel of Saint Martin of Tours
La Tchapéla dè Pratcharbón, as it is called in patois, suddenly appears in the middle of the forest, along the old mule track connecting Ayas to Brusson. It was built in 1736 by the valley community and dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, patron saint of Ayas, whose feast day is celebrated on November 11. Among the places of worship most cherished by popular devotion, throughout the 19th century it was the destination of a processional route held to implore favorable conditions for farming and alpine pastures. The route of this rogation involved the entire Ayas basin and stopped at chapels and oratories, departing from Antagnod to follow the Ru Cortot as far as Les Fiéry, then descending to Saint-Jacques-des-Allemands and Champoluc, before climbing back to Antagnod through Périasc and Pracharbon, where Mass was celebrated.
