The Charmaix chapel in Valfréjus

The origins of the original sanctuary and the statue of the Virgin Mary are highly hypothetical and, one might say, "lost in the mists of time". Even before the introduction of Christianity to the Maurienne, there was probably already a small prayer site leaning against the rock. A place where travellers could ask for divine help before crossing a particularly dangerous passage over the Grand Vallon torrent (the magnificent stone bridge did not exist at the time).

At the beginning of the 1st millennium, the first Christian oratory was set up in this area to house a statue of the Virgin Mary. Rather than turning to ancient pagan divinities, travelers now sought the protection of the mother of Jesus Christ. The road then led travellers or pilgrims to present-day Italy via the Col de la Vallée étroite or the Col de la Roue (passes at just over 2000 m altitude), providing quick access to the Bardonnechia valley.

The legend: in the Middle Ages, in Savoy, near Modane, the statue of the Black Madonna of Charmaix already existed. She lived modestly in the rock, in a small oratory carved in the mountain. It dominated and overhung a strong and capricious torrent (the torrent of Charmaix).

The shelter was basic but the place was so famous that all those who went from the Maurienne to the Piedmont went to kneel there. This modest oratory attracted processions, pilgrimages and daily devotions. So much so, that the inhabitants decided to offer the Black Madonna of Charmaix a more suitable shelter. She was therefore installed with great pomp on the altar of the church of Modane. But astonishment, the next morning the Virgin had disappeared! Finally, a person who arrived from Charmaix announced to the general astonishment that the Virgin was in her original niche, in the small oratory of Charmaix.

Convinced that the Virgin was showing them her attachment to the mountains, the inhabitants of Modane decided to find a more suitable place, less isolated and wild than Le Charmaix. They found a small esplanade above the river Arc. Once the work was well underway, it was decided to move the statue of the Virgin Mary to a new oratory built next to the chapel that was being built next to Modane. But the next day, the Virgin had vanished again!

The inhabitants found the statue again, in its original shelter at Charmaix... But to top it all off, the Virgin had brought with her the materials needed to build her chapel! The Modanese took back the statue and recovered the materials. But the next day, the statue had disappeared again, returned to Le Charmaix. A worker, wanting to know what was going on during the night and to unmask the little joker, stayed on the construction site. Tired of waiting, he fell asleep ... He too was miraculously moved to Charmaix!