Eglise de Notre-Dame de la Gorge

We have no certain information on the origin of Notre-Dame-de-la-Gorge: it is said that 900 years ago, a hermit would have settled in this bottom of the valley, to welcome and comfort travelers who passed through this place… The path led to the Col du Bonhomme, and from there, we reached Italy. The pious hermit had organized a sanctuary for the "spiritual renewal" of travellers. He had dedicated it to Saint Anthony, then patron saint of muleteers and guides. The archives reveal to us that the small sanctuary will become a parish. The bottom of the valley is inhabited: in 1338, the "village" of the Gorge had thirty "fires" (hearths).

A SINGULAR ALTARPIECE
Originally, the group of statues placed on the upper level of the altarpiece illustrated the Coronation of the Virgin, the fifteenth mystery of the Rosary. Mary in prayer, flanked by Christ and God the Father, occupied the central part of the decoration.
For some unknown reason, the altarpiece was dismantled between the end of the XNUMXth and the middle of the XNUMXth centuries. Perhaps to protect it during the revolutionary period? When we put it back in place, we thought we were doing the right thing by placing the statue of the Eternal Father in the center of the decor… But the scene thereby lost its primary meaning!

For a long time, art historians, taken aback by this Trinity with four figures, spoke of “theological boldness”. It was a bit by chance, in 1998, observing the direction of the eyes of the cherubs placed under each statue, that we understood the primary meaning of this composition!

A LATIN VERSION FACADE
The façade of the building, protected by its large overhanging decorated roof, is comparable, in a slightly simplified version, to those of the other churches in the valley.
We notice two stuccoed cartridges with their Latin inscriptions: on the left, it is written "Who has found Mary, will find life" and on the right "Her bases are established on the holy mountains". A final inscription is visible on the transverse band between the cornice and the oculus: “I am the Mother of Beautiful Kindness”.

STATUES
The statues, to the left and right of the main altarpiece, evoke Saint Anthony, the first patron of the place, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, cantor of the Blessed Virgin. Little by little, the church was enriched with five other altars, three of which with gilded altarpieces. They have now disappeared, apart from the openwork columns of the left altar and the magnificent frieze in relief, which represents the angels consoling the souls in Purgatory. The floral, colored and gilded ensemble is characteristic of the Baroque style. On the left, a statue of Saint Francis de Sales – bishop of Geneva and great promoter of the reform of the Catholic Church – holding in his hand an inflamed heart, alludes to his “Treatise on the Love of God” published in Annecy in 1616.

Virtual visit to discover here: https://drone-de-regard.fr/VR/FACIM/74_Contamines.html