All pics & the video here are shoot with a cellphone.
The big bell tower
If you walk in the city center, it’s impossible to miss this impressive tower. It was built during the XIth century and it was the bell of the Notre-Dame’s church.
During the XV th century, 4 bells and an arrow was set up at almost 80 meters. This part was destroyed by the revolutionaries in 1794. They destroyed at the same time the church Notre-Dame and part of the chruch was separated from its tower and a road was built in between. The demolition is visible from the East side (photo on the left side).
It can’t be open to the public, however sometimes there are temporary exhibition visible from the street.
Opinel, a local knife with a long history.
The Opinel company has manufactured and marketed a line of eponymous wooden-handled knives since 1890 from its headquarters in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, France — where the family-run company also operates a museum dedicated to its knives. The company sells approximately 15 million knives annually. Opinel knives are made of both high carbon and stainless steel, the latter being the highest quality Sandvik steel from Sweden.
Originally sold as a working man’s knife, an Opinel knife has become emblematic of French culture, with Pablo Picasso reportedly using one of the company’s knives as a sculpting tool. In 1989, the Larousse dictionary cited “Opinel” as a registered trademark.
Cathedral of Saint-Jean-the-Baptiste
Beside the bell tower, I saw a church’s entry and entered to have a look. I felt attracted by the 82 wooden stalls choir, sculpted in Argentina’s wood in « Credo savoyard » style. There are only 13 in Europe. Imaginary creatures are sculpted on each chair.
Adjacent to the cathedral, the cloister offer a peaceful area. Temperatures below the vaulted ceiling were fresh, despite the hot weather. The inner garden was green and well maintained, with a small stone water funtain in the middle.
The Cathedral of St. Jean the Baptist was built from the sixth century. It was rebuilt in a Romanesque style in the XI after the invasions and then rebuilt in the fifteenth and finally completed in 1771 by adding a neoclassical porch to house the tombs of three first princes of the House of Savoy.
Seat of the diocese of Maurienne to its attachment to the diocese of Chambéry in 1966, the cathedral retains some elements carved with the original building.
The crypt was built at the begining of the Middle Age but redescovered in 1958.
