Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise

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Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise
Commune
The fountain and chapel in the hamlet of Le Monal, in Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise
show Location of Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Show map of FranceShow map of Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesShow all
Coordinates: 45°35′N 6°53′E / 45.59°N 6.88°E / 45.59; 6.88Coordinates: 45°35′N 6°53′E / 45.59°N 6.88°E / 45.59; 6.88
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Savoie
Arrondissement	Albertville
Canton	Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Intercommunality	Haute Tarentaise
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Paul Cusin-Rollet
Area 1	100.15 km2 (38.67 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[1]	750
• Density	7.5/km2 (19/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	73232 /73640
Elevation	871–3,747 m (2,858–12,293 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise
Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise Location within Alps
Top elevation	2,622 m (8,602 ft)
Base elevation	1,550 m (5,090 ft)
Runs	24 total   2 beginner   7 easy   11 intermediate   4 difficult
Lift system	6 total 4 chair lifts 2 magic carpet lifts
Website	www.saintefoy-tarentaise.com/english/winter/ski/

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise (French pronunciation: ​[sɛ̃t.fwaj.taʁɑ̃tɛz]) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise is a village in the Tarentaise Valley in Savoie, France. The old village lies on the main road between Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Val-d'Isère. About 4 km above the village (turning left at La Thuile) is the ski resort of Sainte Foy (referred as Sainte Foy Station). It is a small resort with four chairlifts, 15 slopes and accommodation for 2,500 people. Sainte Foy has groomed pistes which are often very quiet, but it is more famous for the off-piste skiing and snowboarding.

Sainte-Foy village is a Savoie style village, built from stone and wood. It has remained unspoiled compared to many mountain villages and ski areas in France. The village centres on a cluster of bars and restaurants. There is accommodation in the main village including hotels and chalets. There are chalets offering accommodation in the satellite villages of La Masure and Le Miroir.

Ski resort[]

The ski resort sits high above the village at 1550m above sea level. The resort was built in an old farming hamlet, some of which survives as chalet accommodation. Most of the village has been built recently, but in a sympathetic style using wood and stone. There are luxury apartments and chalets. There are two spas in the resort, both with swimming pools, jacuzzis, and saunas, as well as massage and beauty treatments. There are five ski shops, two bars, three restaurants and a small supermarket.

The mountain[]

The mountain has four chairlifts and two magic carpets for beginners. There is a vertical drop of just over 1000 m from the highest point at the Col de l'Aiguille (2620 m). There are around 20 pistes, with a choice for all ability levels. A green trail snakes through the trees back down to the resort while the new Grande Soliet run down from the Marquise chairlift offers a long, wide, swooping blue-grade trail. Red runs vary from the roller-coaster of Les Creux de Formeian to tight, steep challenges. There is one groomed black run but another three marked off-piste areas, also graded black.

While the on-piste skiing is excellent for beginners and confirmed skiers, the resort is also known for the off-piste terrain. This varies from short runs between the trails to legendary descents such as the easy tour to the village of Le Monal or the fearsome north face of La Fogliettaz.

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise at Night

History[]

While the Tarentaise seems to have been populated as early as the 5th millennium B.C. by the Ceutrons, there is no evidence of a human presence in the commune of Sainte-Foy before the Romans settled there around the 3rd century B.C. The Tarentaise was then successively occupied by the Burgundians (a Nordic tribe) until the 10th century, and then administered by the archbishops of Charlemagne who protected the populations as best they could against the invasions of the Saracens. It seems that there was a place of worship in Sainte-Foy as soon as the region was evangelized by Jacques de Tarentaise in the 5th century, probably dedicated to Sainte-Madeleine, the second patron saint of the village, but the name of Sainte-Foy only appears in an official text in 1170. From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century, Sainte-Foy depended on the seigneury of Val d'Isère and included Tignes and the entire valley. Between 1391 and 1738, the parish was administered by three trustees installed in the districts of Les Villes, Tiers de la Thuile and Tiers du Milieu. On January 31, 1784, Joseph Joachin d'Allinges, the last lord of Val d'Isère, freed Saint-Foy. The construction of the Tignes dam, which had been planned since the 1930s, was resumed in 1947 and brought activity to Sainte-Foy. The inauguration of the dam on July 4, 1953 gave President Auriol the opportunity to stop in Sainte-Foy on his way to Tignes. The site is taken into account in the 1964 Snow Plan, for the development of skiing. Despite this, the rural exodus continues in Sainte-Foy as elsewhere and the village is inexorably emptied of its population. In 1975, the village had only 593 inhabitants. From the 1960's on, several projects for winter sports resorts sprang up in the minds of the inhabitants, as the premonitory serie Miroir 2000 quite rightly recounts, until in 1982, the site of Bon Conseil was finally selected for the launch of a ski resort. After many ups and downs and opposition, Mayor Daniel Pascual, elected in 1987, finally opened the first three chairlifts in the winter of 1990/91, with the slogan "Sainte-Foy, j'y crois" (which is a rime meaning "Sainte-Foy, j'y crois"). After a chaotic start, the resort really took off in the 2000s, thanks in particular to the enthusiasm of the English and the Dutch.

See also[]

• Communes of the Savoie department

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise.

• Sainte-Foy Tourist Office
• Webcam
• Piste map