If you are not usually a museum lover, you may well change your mind by pushing open the doors of the multi-site museum in Hérémence. Its originality lies in its presentation, setup as a discovery tour of the old village of Hérémence. Created in the 1960s, just after the construction of the dam, it retraces a whole part of the history of the 20th century in our valleys, after the construction of the Grande Dixence. The inhabitants of the valley, who until then had led an almost self-sufficient agropastoral life, entered modernity thanks to the money earned on the construction site. The trades of yesteryear disappeared as the inhabitants gradually abandoned their everyday objects for the benefit of modern comfort. Lucien, a villager passionate about local history, has worked for years to preserve this memory. Visionary or nostalgic? Nowadays, each villager can find his history there, a universal history. Places and objects remain where they have crossed the ages. They bring us back to the daily life of yesteryear, a life not so far away.
Several sites are in the heart of the village and can be discovered in complete freedom: the mill and its communal oven, the wine press, elements of the old church. Others, the forge, the old house, the rural museum open their doors to you, like a treasure, during the village festivals, temporary exhibitions or visits accompanied by local guides, lovers of heritage and traditions.
Never miss the opportunity to enter these unusual places and reconnect with the past. An echo to Grande Dixence.
“Tradition is not the cult of ashes but the preservation of fire” Gustave Malher.
