Saint-Bon and the Baroque
The church of Saint-Bon, made Baroque in the 17th century, its altarpieces and the hamlet chapels: the Tarentaise before skiing.
Heritage & Culture · Courchevel
Heritage in Courchevel: the other story of the snow
A Baroque village, a designed resort, an inhabited mountain.
The experience
Heritage & Culture
A designed resort
Courchevel 1850, laid out from 1946 by the planner Laurent Chappis and the architect Denys Pradelle, read with a guide who knows its story.
Art and mountain
Sculptures shown in the open air on the slopes each winter, the galleries of 1850, the Vanoise National Park: culture carries on outdoors.
The dossier
Courchevel
Heritage & Culture
Saint-Bon, the village before the resort
Courchevel was born in the commune of Saint-Bon, whose village keeps its stone houses, its bread oven and its old still. Its church, Romanesque in origin, was transformed and enlarged between 1650 and 1673: it became Baroque, and its altarpieces — among them the altarpiece of the Souls in Purgatory — are among the most singular in the valley. The hamlet chapels, such as La Nouvaz, carry this mountain Baroque further.
Courchevel 1850, an invented resort
After the war, the Savoie departmental council launched a tourism programme; the planner Laurent Chappis, joined in 1946 by the architect Denys Pradelle, drew on an untouched slope a resort conceived for skiing, which the department named Courchevel 1850 on 30 November 1946. Few French resorts were born this way, on paper, before the first chalet.
The Olympic ski jumps of Le Praz
At Le Praz, one of Courchevel's historic villages, a first ski jump was built as early as 1944; today's large hills hosted the ski jumping events of the 1992 Albertville Games, and are due to return to service for the 2030 Winter Games.
Open-air art and the Vanoise
Each winter for more than fifteen years, Courchevel has shown monumental sculptures in the open air, from the centre of 1850 up to the summits of the ski area, with the Bartoux gallery. The resort's galleries complete the route, and we request a private viewing when an exhibition lends itself to one.
The day, from village to summit
A chauffeured car, a morning in Saint-Bon, lunch at Le Praz, the chapel and the architecture of 1850 in the afternoon, then dinner: we coordinate the whole day, to reveal the resort that skiing makes one forget.
Courchevel
The address book
A few of the names we open — the book itself never closes.
Church of Saint-Bon
Romanesque in origin, made Baroque between 1650 and 1673; altarpiece of the Souls in Purgatory, open according to season.
Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption chapel
Courchevel 1850, designed in 1953 by Denys Pradelle with Jean Prouvé, listed as a historic monument in 2005.
Le Praz ski jumps
First jump in 1944, ski jumping of the 1992 Albertville Games, at the edge of the Le Praz forest.
La Nouvaz chapel
A Baroque hamlet chapel, witness to the pastoral life that preceded the resort.
Vanoise National Park
Created in 1963, France's first national park: glacial valleys, high-altitude wildlife and refuges.
And every other: from the confidential neighbourhood table to the fully-booked three-star. Name yours — we know the house.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
The village of Saint-Bon and its Baroque church, the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption chapel by Denys Pradelle and Jean Prouvé, the Olympic ski jumps of Le Praz, the winter's open-air sculptures and the Vanoise National Park. We compose the route with a guide.
Yes, during its opening periods, mainly in summer; we add a guide specialised in the Savoie Baroque and request a private slot under the rules of the parish and the commune.
The resort was laid out from 1946 by the planner Laurent Chappis and the architect Denys Pradelle, at the initiative of the Savoie department, and named Courchevel 1850 on 30 November 1946. The 2026–2027 season marks its 80th anniversary.
Yes: with a qualified mountain leader, on snowshoes in winter or on foot in summer, for a day or over two days with a night in a refuge, depending on the weather and your pace.
In summer, when the church of Saint-Bon and the chapels open their doors; in winter, for the open-air sculptures and the architecture of 1850 under snow. We adapt the route to the season of your stay.
Before the slopes, there was a village. It is still there.