Culture and heritage
Art and architecture treasures, combined with an exceptional natural environment, make up the originality and cultural wealth of Passy.
Modern architecture: 1930's, labels " Patrimoine du XXe s. Historic Monument" labels.
The southern orientation and the excellent climate are one of the main reasons for the installation of these large ships, the sanatoriums on the high plateaus of Passy. Illustrating the technical and aesthetic genius of 20th century architecture, these buildings have had a great influence on our habitat and the relationship between man and the environment. From the pavilion model to the extremely rationalised building, the Plateau d'Assy presents a complete range of solutions put in place during the inter-war period. Five settlements have chapels whose decoration bears witness to the research that led to the great sacred manifesto that is the church of Assy.
The church of Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce (1950) is the key building in the renewal of sacred art in the 20th century. The masterpieces that decorate it are signed by the greatest artists of modern art (Rouault, Bonnard, Lurçat, Matisse, Braque, Léger, Chagall...)
The oldest, St-Pierre et St-Paul de Passy, is linked to the great agro-pastoral tradition of the region, St-Joseph de Chedde to the industrial past of the site and N. D.-de-Toute-Grâce is linked to the health resort of the Plateau d'Assy. Finally, St Donat des Plagnes. Four eras, four different visions not to be missed in order to understand the passerand territory in all its diversity. Note that the commune still has a dozen chapels, some in the Baroque style, others in the former sanatoriums.
In 1973, Passy was the setting for a huge exhibition - Sculptures in the Mountains - Poem in Space.
Inspired by the place and its history, and conceived by the poet Jean-Pierre Lemesle, the project will bring together works by the most representative artists of contemporary sculpture. Passy has kept five major works and acquired other sculptures. Placed in the 1980s between the exit of the A40 motorway and the foothills of the Fiz mountain range, they offer us a tour of the hillside, reaching the exceptional viewpoint of Plaine Joux (Works by Cossin, Gosselin, Brunelli, Féraud, Calder, Romy, Dupuy, Sandel, Semser, Roussi, Cardenas and Gardy Artigas)
Scattered along the hillside between the plain and the Plaine-Joux resort, facing Mont Blanc, the Route de sculpture contemporaine turns Passy into a large open-air museum.
12 monumental sculptures line a 12km route.
Artists: Féraud, Calder, Semser, Gardy Artigas, Roussi, Cardenas, Gosselin, Dupuy, Romy, Cossin, Brunelli and Sandel