IMAGE: MONICA DALMASSO
CARVED OUT OF TIME
Stonemasons from the village of Samoëns were once known across the world. Today, only two remain — but their legacy is writ large across local streets and beyond
WORDS: K ATJA GAS K E L L
“Look, that one’s my father,” says 81-year-old Pierre Bianco, pointing to a grainy black- and-white photo in an album. It shows a man wearing a flat cap and waistcoat, standing at the entrance to a quarry alongside a dozen or so fellow workers, all staring solemnly at the camera. One sits on horseback, a small wagon trailing behind. “This was taken in 1903,” he continues. “The horses would travel up to the quarry and take the stone back to town.” The town is Samoëns, a small settlement
in the Giffre Valley of Haute-Savoie, a region of the French Alps. Local lore says its name originally meant ‘seven mountains’, in a nod to the towering limestone peaks that stand guard all around. Pierre’s thick, calloused hands reveal a lifetime spent working with this limestone, first to construct houses, later to create delicate, intricate and almost gravity- defying works of art. Among the array of hand- carved sculptures lining every surface of his living room are smooth, marble-like spheres, slowly rotating on fragile glass stands. He dives back into the album and picks out
another photo, this time showing a group of sombre-looking boys and young men. They’re holding pickaxes and wooden bars, which, as Pierre explains, were once used for levering dynamite into rock crevices. These images are part of a larger collection of newspaper clippings, sketches and illustrations — records
documenting a traditional skill and art form that’s in danger of disappearing. “Few young people want to work with stone these days,” says Pierre with a sigh, mimicking a console with his hands. “It’s sad, but it’s very difficult to make a living out of it.” Pierre is one of Samoëns’ two remaining
stonemasons — a profession that once passed down through generations and brought the valley fame and fortune. During the 17th century, Samoëns was revered for its stonecutters, known locally as frahans. Their reputation spread far and wide: they travelled throughout France, working on projects for the famed military engineer Vauban, and constructing the canals at Saint Quentin and on the Rhône-Rhine. The French philosopher, novelist and playwright Voltaire was so taken with their work that he hired them to build his château in Ferney-Voltaire. “We know the furthest they travelled was
Louisiana,” says Aurélie Veisy, a Savoie Mont Blanc heritage guide, as we sip coffee at local cafe À la Jaÿsinia later that afternoon. “We found the names of three masons in New Orleans archives.” Like many success stories, that of the frahans was a mixture of necessity, opportunity and good luck. Alpine farmers regularly sought alternative work during the winter months, when their fields were blanketed by thick layers of snow. In the Giffre,
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