Travel Guide Pragelato

Pragelato lies at the far end of the Chisone valley. Its history began in the Middle Ages, in 1064, when the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria di Pinerolo was founded. But in 1343, the town joined forces with other towns on either side of the mountains, such as Oulx, Château-Dauphin and Briançon, to create the community of Escartons (the name derives from the Old French "escartonner", meaning "to share taxes equally"), a kind of federal democracy with Briançon as its capital, whose administrative autonomy was recognized by the Dauphin of Vienne and by the House of Savoy until 1713! As a result, the region became a land of exile for many Vaudois, who fled the French army at the end of the 14th century. The towns belonging to this federation created a cultural unity of Alpine traditions and life, still evident today in the use of the French and Occitan languages (Alpine Provençal), spoken by families in the Chisone valley. The architecture of the houses also bears witness to this link with France, with the use of sundials adorning the facades of the sunniest houses, and the many polygonal fountains carved with motifs such as the fleur-de-lys, the dauphin, the heart or the Savoy cross. The 19th and 20th centuries were characterized by a constant flow of migration from the valley to France. One of the causes of this migration was the closure of the Le Bet mines, which became infamous in 1904 when an avalanche killed 81 miners, leaving the region in mourning for a long time to come.The commune of Pragelato is now made up of 19 hamlets scattered across a vast, sunny basin. Today, it has become an important and renowned tourist resort, a beautiful alpine amphitheatre with excellent sports facilities where, in winter, you can enjoy downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and ice skating. Tourism is therefore the commune's main economic resource. Local oeno-gastronomic products are also highly sought-after, especially typical mountain produce: various honeys, herb, flower and root distillates, butter, cheeses... Livestock farming has not disappeared, and you can discover delicious cow's milk cheese at all stages of ripening, and especially tomini, those small, extremely tasty cheeses preserved in olive oil, typical of the Piedmont mountains.