Page 7 - Guida di Sestriere

architecture and hamlets
sta e all’escursionista un’ampia varietà di itinerari e percorsi a contatto con la
natura. Natura dove non mancano di evidenziarsi le tracce lasciate dall’uomo
a testimonianza di antiche civiltà e delle molte culture incarnate dalla monta-
gna; insomma un grande patrimonio di valori in cui al presente, non dobbiamo
mancare di riconoscerci.
Dario Reteuna

The Sestriere mountain pass, situated in a large basin between the mountain range of Fraiteve-
Basset, Sises, Banchetta and Rognosa, consisted of meadows and an alpine road at the beginning
of 1900.
The pioneering hotel ‘Sestrieres’ owned by Vincenzo Possetto is dated 1914; this building with its
typical low hut shape (1914) was inaugurated in 1921 and later restored. Also notable is the Church
of Regina Pacis (1925), decorated with a valuable floral mosaic, a valid example of architecture prior
to the concept of Sestriere as a ‘winter capital’. Remarkable is the Obelisk-fountain, in Bousson green
stone, (1914) to celebrate the centenary of the Napoleonic road. Knocked down in 1950, it was only
reconstructed in 1987 (architect Tonini of Susa).
At the start of the ‘30s the peculiar architectural style wanted by Senator Agnelli, driven by the spor-
ting interests of his son Edoardo, led to the present establishment capable of supplying an exclusive
concept of sport and winter tourism. In view of this, the famous hotel ‘La Torre’ (1932) was built.
With its original internal spiral ramps, it did not conform to tradition, purposely in conflict with na-
ture’s, still uncontaminated landscape. It differentiated Sestriere as a place of refined and unique
modernity.
In the architectural patrimony there is also, the Chiesa di Sant’Eduardo, built in 1937 in memory of
Senator Agnelli’s son who died in a plane accident. The pseudo-Romanesque façade, in stone from
the Val Chisone, makes it appear somehow austere. With three internal naves, it has three bronze
portals (Arturo Dazzi); the central one represents the seven children of Edoardo Agnelli. Note also the
alabaster column (from the Vatican) of the 1st century which holds the shelf of the minor altar, the
‘Christ’ by Edoardo Rubino and a statue by Francesco Messina.

The three hamlets of Borgata, Champlas du Col and Champlas Janvier are the true settlements
of Sestriere before it became a resort. The pastoral villages were turned into accommodation for
tourists in the 1900’s. Here one can find valuable mountain chalets, many of which still have tiled
roofs in ‘slate’ or wood. Sestriere offers the tourist a wide variety of itineraries in contact with nature,
where evidence of an old civilization and of many mountain cultures can be found; a large patrimony
of values in which we can all identify.

Cappella di San Claudio, Champlas Janvier