webcams
video
e-card
images
video
e-card
images
Tradition
The written tradition
In the barely literate France of the 15th century, the Briançon area and Queyras were islands of the culture of writing. Every year the villages recruited a ‘magister’ or schoolmaster for the winter season. Feathers in their hats advertised their services: one feather for reading and writing; two for reading, writing and arithmetic; and three meant Latin as well. As a result, practically all the village men and women could sign their names and had a real taste for writing.
This kind of teaching started to disappear from 1840 onwards.
Religious art
A feature of the religious art of the Queyras is its understated nature, nevertheless it still bears the scars of the Wars of Religion. This land of contrasts with strong cultural and popular traditions bears witness to these waves of pilgrimage.
Its religious architecture, influenced by the Lombard tradition, is often rustic, varied and vernacular (marble, wood and flagstone). A number of buildings have been destroyed or have fallen into ruin, while others have been identified thanks to cadastral records from 1831.
Woodcraft
Woodwork in the 18th and 19th centuries was an integral part of the life of the Queyrassins. Wood being the local raw material, it was used for architecture, furniture and all kinds of small everyday objects such as saltcellars. Cupboards, chests, tables and chairs are made from Arolla pine and decorated by several members of the family. This use of wood shows the adaptation of a society to its environment.
Dairy products
Up until the end of the 19th century, the Queyras had an extremely intense tradition of cheese-making and pastoralism. In the summer, locals would take their animals up to the high-mountain pastures and the life of the community was primarily based around the production and transformation of milk, with cheeses made from milk from cows, ewes and goats. The classic local products are the blue and ‘tomme’ (hard) cheeses made from unpasteurised milk, which are matured and sold direct from the various Queyras cheese makers.
