FRDEITEN
Villages / Valais / Entremont district / Champex-Lac

Champex-Lac

Canton of Valais · District: Entremont · No published figure for the locality. The municipality of Orsières has 3'339 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Orsières
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Champex-Lac

The resort is also simply called Champex. No reliable explanation of this name has yet been given.

Founding of Champex-Lac

Champex-Lac is a resort of the municipality of Orsières, on the shore of Lake Champex. The municipality has two main valleys, the Val Ferret and the Champex valley. Hotels appeared in the Champex area around 1850, but the resort's growth began in 1892 with the Hôtel de la Poste, and tourism at first remained mainly a summer affair. The Flore-Alpe alpine garden was laid out from 1925 to 1927, and the first Breya chairlift was built in 1952.[1][2][8][10]

History of Champex-Lac

around 1850. Hotels appear in the Champex area.[1]

1892. Construction of the Hôtel de la Poste, the start of the resort's growth.[2]

1910. At the request of the guests of the hôtel du Lac, Joséphine Gross has the private Nativity chapel built. It serves as the resort's official place of worship until 1941.[3][5][7]

1912. The family of Félicien Meilland buys the hotel and the Nativity chapel.[7]

1925-1927. The industrialist Jean-Marcel Aubert lays out the Flore-Alpe alpine botanical garden.[1][8][9]

1935. The Protestant chapel of Les Arolles, by the architect Fernand Grenier, is inaugurated on 18 August by Pastor Eugène de la Harpe.[1][3][6]

1938-1941. Construction of the Catholic chapel of Saint-Bernard, to plans by the architect Marc Lovay.[3][5]

1940-1943. An artillery fort is dug into the southern ridge of the Catogne to support the defence of the Great St Bernard axis (the works are also dated from October 1941 to December 1942).[4]

1943. Paul Monnier paints a Nativity fresco in the Nativity chapel. The Saint-Bernard chapel receives Stations of the Cross windows painted by A. David and J. J. Gruber.[5][7]

1952. First chairlift, built by Müller, from the village to a shoulder below the summit of the Breya, at about 2'200 m.[10]

1978. A second chairlift, Breya II, doubles the first on the upper part of the ski area.[10]

1998. The army stops using the artillery fort, which remains classified as secret until 1999. It is now open to visitors.[4]

2008. The municipality of Orsières and the canton of Valais take over the Flore-Alpe garden.[9]

2012. In September a fire destroys the top station of the Breya I chairlift, which is replaced by a new chairlift in 2013.[10]

2025. In September, after research showing that Jean-Marcel Aubert took an active part in the German war economy between 1940 and 1944, the foundation drops his name and becomes the Fondation du Jardin botanique Flore-Alpe.[9]

Historic sites in Champex-Lac

Lake Champex. Mountain lake on whose shore the resort developed.

Flore-Alpe alpine botanical garden. Alpine garden laid out from 1925 to 1927 by Jean-Marcel Aubert, listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property.[8]

Nativity chapel. Private chapel built in 1910 for the guests of the hôtel du Lac, decorated in 1943 with a Nativity fresco and two stained-glass windows by Paul Monnier. Restored in 1983 by the architect Pierre Dorsaz.[7]

Chapel of Les Arolles. Protestant chapel built in 1935 by the architect Fernand Grenier, in the forest near the beach. A reception room shared by Protestants and Catholics was fitted out there in 1990.[3][6]

Saint-Bernard chapel. Catholic chapel dedicated to Saint Bernard of Menthon, built from 1938 to 1941 by Marc Lovay, with stained glass from 1943. Its interior was restored in 1993 and decorated by the Valais painter François Boson.[5]

Remains in Champex-Lac

Champex artillery fort. Work dug at about 1'450 m into the southern ridge of the Catogne during the Second World War, to support the defence of the Great St Bernard axis. It has more than 600 m of tunnels and could house 300 men. Modernised during the Cold War, it served the army until 1998 and is now open to visitors.[4]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Orsières » (Albano Hugon, version du 03.11.2009)
  2. Pays du Saint-Bernard (office du tourisme), « Our history »
  3. Pays du Saint-Bernard (office du tourisme), « The chapels of Champex-Lac »
  4. Pays du Saint-Bernard (office du tourisme), « Artillery fort of Champex-Lac »
  5. Paroisses de l'Entremont, « Chapelle de Champex-Lac »
  6. Paroisses de l'Entremont, « Chapelle des Arolles, Champex-Lac »
  7. Paroisses de l'Entremont, « Chapelle de la Nativité, Champex-Lac »
  8. Inventaire suisse des biens culturels (PBC), fiche « Jardin botanique alpin (Champex-Lac) », d'après le Guide artistique de la Suisse (SHAS)
  9. blue News, « Founder of the Flore-Alpe garden in Valais with Nazi connections »
  10. remontees-mecaniques.net, « Champex-Lac » (historique de la station)
  11. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  12. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)

Other villages near Champex-Lac

Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.

Suggest a change