Birth of the Parish

At the turn of the central Middle Ages, La Grave finally appears clearly in the written record. The first document mentioning our Christian communities is the cartulary of the Abbey of Oulx, dated 1105. It refers to Arenas Inferiores (La Grave) and Arenas Superiores (Villar-d'Arène), two parishes then dependent on this powerful religious institution in the Susa Valley. At that time, what remains today the oldest monument in the entire upper Romanche valley was already standing: the Romanesque church of La Grave. Built between the 11th and the early 12th century, it clearly shows the influence of Lombard Romanesque art, a style from the other side of the Alps that spread widely through the region during the Middle Ages. Its massive silhouette, square bell tower, and sober decoration bear witness to a direct link with this distinctive Alpine art. The document of 1105, in which La Grave appears under the form Atque de Arenas, is connected to a donation by the Count of Albon, Guigues VIII — already bearing the title of Dauphin. This text confirms the importance of the religious links between our valley and Oulx, which then exercised real spiritual authority over the area. A little later, the fiscal census of 1335 provides the precise list of all the hamlets and villages dependent on La Grave. It shows how structured the community already was, how dispersed it was across the slopes, and how densely populated the Traverses had always been.