Page 4 - Guida di Claviere e Montgenevre

formed in the Dauphin’s territory and with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the lands of the Alta introduction
At 7km from Cesana and 2km from Montgenèvre, Claviere (1,760m) is a picturesque
mountain village, which lies in a long flat valley of the Montgenèvre Pass. The surrounding
scenery is impressive: to the North Mt Chaberton, to the East, Rocca Clari; to the South Mt La
Plane and in the S-West, the international road of Montgenèvre, at the bottom of the French
Mt Janus. Its enviable geographical position, Claviere lies in the Via Lattea complex (400km
skiable pistes) makes it a renowned ski resort. Since ancient times the Monginevro Pass, one
of the best ways for crossing the Alps, was an important site for stops and transit routes
which linked Arles to Milan.
Before Emperor Napoleon I built the mountain pass road, there used to be a mule-track.
After Charlemagne’s death and the fall of his empire in 879 A.D. these Alps and the adjacent
mountain territories were passed to the ‘Reign of Provence’ and later in 1030 the new state
of Dauphinate was created which made up part of the Reign of France. Following the conces-
sion of the Chart of Freedom given by the Dauphin XII in 1343 the Republic of Escarton was
Valle Susa were given to the Savoy. During the centuries the history of Claviere, was linked
to malevolent episodes, or to bad weather (landslides and floods) in 1783 and in 1789. The
present settlement of the village (between 1773 and 1780), dates back to just after the buil-
ding of the Chapel (1770). By 1920 the progressive spread of skiing and the recent bourgeois
culture of competitions (the 1° International Ski Competition was held in 1907 between Cla-
viere and Montgenèvre) soon contributed to give a new description of tourism and sport to
this small border village. Among the pioneers of skiing who settled in Claviere, E. Santi has to
be mentioned; a sportsman (with Mezzalama was the protagonist of the 1° Claviere-Bardo-
necchia crossing) and a well known excursionist, through the use of his artistic photography,
like few others, he was able to express refined and distressing images of his contemplative
passion for landscapes. In 1949 he was also the author of the ‘Handbook of Skiing’ in which
he went against the new skiing techniques which were, according to him, too ‘modern’.
After hosting the Italian Ski Championships, in 1926, Claviere became one of the most qua-
lified spots for winter sports. For this reason it was chosen as an Olympic training site during
the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

Claviere, rifugio sulle piste (Collezione privata).

In 1933 in a valuable small tourist book of the Valle di Susa one can read: ‘As a whole in
Claviere one can have a very elegant life, both in the summer and in the winter, but specially
in this latter season, since the village has become one of the most renowned winter sports
resorts in Italy as well as in Europe.’ A ‘very elegant’ life linked to the practice of the elite sport
of golf which has been popular in Claviere since 1929 with its 9-hole golf course (2,428m),
well structured on the rough green ground. During the II World War Claviere experienced
disastrous military actions, that completely destroyed this small village by shellfire and did
not spare the church (re-built in 1949). An underground crypt was built in 1968 (sculptor L.
Colli). Inside the church in addition to the works of the painters M. Baretta and G. Cena is also
to be mentioned the plaster cast sculpture of the ‘Madonna’.