Heritage

This heritage consists of a multitude of alpine chalets, barns, and haylofts – buildings whose typologies are closely tied to the activities carried out within them. Nearly 50% of the alpine chalets in the canton of Fribourg are located within the Park’s municipalities. The traditional tavillon roofing (split wooden shingles) is a distinctive architectural feature, a testament to a craft that is still alive today.

The municipalities of Pays-d’Enhaut, Ormont-Dessous, and the alpine pastures of the Rochers-de-Naye massif also have many chalets.

Alongside this alpine heritage, there are also barns and haylofts, generally located in mowing areas. This is a distinctive architectural feature of the municipalities in the Rochers-de-Naye massif and in Gruyère. The Pays-d’Enhaut also has such buildings, but here they are integrated into a more dispersed settlement pattern.

In Rossinière, the Grand Chalet (1754), formerly known as the Grande Maison, was built for two families. The lower ground floor houses an immense cheese cellar. Its master builder, Jean-David Henchoz, sought to turn it into a cheese trading hub. From 1857 to 1976, the building was converted into a guesthouse, which notably hosted Victor Hugo. The painter Balthus acquired it in 1977, lived and worked there until his death in 2001.

The Maison du Banneret (1666) in Grandvillard features a magnificent ceremonial façade. Its owner, Banneret Pierre de la Tinaz, belonged to the local aristocracy and was an early player in the cheese trade, selling his products as far as Lyon.

Remarkable 17th- and 18th-century houses are scattered across the Park’s villages, such as the Château de Charmey, a solid square-plan building in the French style, reflecting a return of influence. Indeed, merchants generally traded in Lyon. Cheese exports also justified the development of new roads and the construction of bridges.

The Cluniac Priory of Rougemont
Founded between 1073 and 1085 in Rougemont, the priory included the Church of Saint Nicholas — which became a parish church very early on (before 1228) — along with two chapels, the convent building, a stone barn built in 1342, stables, and granaries. The priory was dissolved in 1555 when Bern took control of Haute Gruyère and introduced the Reformation. In 1572, a castle, serving as the residence of the bailiff of Saanen, replaced the priory. Privately owned from 1803, it was destroyed by fire in 1973 and rebuilt the following year.

La Valsainte Charterhouse (Cerniat)
The Charterhouse of La Valsainte was founded in 1294 following a donation by Girard I of Corbières. Until the 16th century, only the church was built in stone; the convent buildings and monks’ cells were wooden. The monastery’s history was marked by several tragic and deadly fires. It was closed in 1778, and the monks were moved to La Part-Dieu (Bulle). Allowed by the State of Fribourg to repurchase La Valsainte in 1861, the Carthusians completely rebuilt their monastery, erecting all buildings and cells in stone and restoring the church. From 1863 to 1903, the Charterhouse underwent successive expansions, the last to house Carthusians expelled from France. This cell wing was demolished in 2008 to stabilise the monastery, which was being pulled downslope.

Chapel network
The municipality of Val-de-Charmey has a collection of chapels built between the Middle Ages and the 20th century. Beyond their religious function, they were also a sign of social success, with most attributed to wealthy cheese merchants. Despite their very simple architecture (regional Gothic style) and tavillon-covered roofs, their liturgical furnishings and interior decorations are often remarkable (baroque altarpieces and paintings). A notable example is the decorative cycle in the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist.

Many other chapels and churches are found in the Intyamon valley: the church of Lessoc with its remarkable painted and sculpted 17th-century ceiling; the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows at Le Buth; the Chapel of Our Lady of L’Evi and the Hermitage in the L’Evi valley; the Chapel of La Dâda; and the Chapel of Le Dâ in Estavannens, both linked to several legends.

In the canton of Vaud
In the Pays-d’Enhaut, the church of Château-d’Œx has been mentioned since 1175 and was dependent on the Cluniac priory of Rougemont. It was rebuilt in the 16th century on the hill of La Motte. In Rossinière, the original Romanesque church overlooks the village. An Anglican church was built in Les Avants in 1877 and another in Château-d’Œx in 1899, reflecting the region’s tourist expansion and the English fondness for this area.

The Park’s territory contains several remains of medieval castles in varying states of preservation, with the castles of Gruyères and Chillon as its flagships. These two sites are among the most visited monuments in Switzerland.

The location of Chillon Castle — on a rock plunging steeply into Lake Geneva and along a strategic route — encouraged early settlement. Excavations have revealed traces dating back to the Bronze Age, followed by Roman fortifications and an initial square keep from the 11th–12th centuries. The castle’s current form is the result of several centuries of construction and renovation over three main periods (Savoyard, Bernese, and Vaudois). Unlike the typical square layout of Savoyard castles, it follows the oval shape of the rocky islet on which it stands. Since 1888, it has been a protected and restored historical monument (owned by the canton of Vaud) and has gained international recognition.

Gruyères Castle stands on a hill between the Moléson and the Dent de Broc. Built in the 13th century following the Savoyard square model — like its neighbour in Bulle — the fortress is adjoined by the medieval town of Gruyères, which developed at the top of the promontory. The castle was home to the counts of Gruyère until the bankruptcy of the last, Count Michel, in 1554. From 1555, it served as the residence of Fribourg’s bailiffs, and from 1798 to 1848, of the prefects. Sold in 1849, it was purchased by the Baud-Bovy family, who restored it. Some rooms feature paintings by Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet. The State of Fribourg bought the castle in 1939 and opened it to the public.

The history of tourism has left a few exceptional sites within the Park.

In the heights above Montreux, the villages of Caux and Les Avants experienced significant hotel development from the mid-19th century onwards, spurred by the arrival of public transport (MOB, Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye).

In the Pays-d’Enhaut, boarding houses and hotels for tourists — mainly English visitors — also began appearing in the early 19th century. The arrival of the Montreux–Oberland Bernois railway (MOB) in 1904 increased the region’s appeal. In Château-d’Œx and Rougemont, hotels and guesthouses multiplied, including the Grand Hôtel, an annex to the Hôtel Berthod inaugurated in 1906; the Hôtel Victoria, expanded in 1908; and La Soldanelle, a health resort opened in June 1907.

In Gruyère, hotel architecture has also left notable examples, such as the Hôtel du Sapin in Charmey (formerly a cabaret, enlarged in 1897–1898), the Hôtel de Jaman (1854), and the Hôtel de la Gare in Montbovon.

Transport routes — mule tracks, paths, bridges, and railways — are historically significant traces with both landscape and heritage value.

Routes of national importance run through the Park, particularly following the valleys: the Intyamon, the Jogne valley, the Pays-d’Enhaut, or crossing the Col de Jaman. Some sections of these historic routes are still visible today.

From the mule track over the Col de Jaman, between Vers les Jordan and Montbovon, a flight of steps carved directly into the rock remains in a hollowed woodland passage, in an excellent state of preservation.

On the historic route linking Rougemont (Flendruz) to the Jogne valley — a path traditionally used for transhumance — the section from Ciernes Picat to the cantonal border is of national importance.

Part of these historic routes, an exceptional collection of nationally significant bridges is found within the Park. Spanning rivers such as the Sarine and the Hongrin, these engineering works are spectacular witnesses to the region’s transport history.

The La Tine Bridge (Rossinière), built in 1785, is a two-arch, humpback bridge over the Sarine. It connects hamlets to the chemin royal built by the Bernese authorities from 1748. Today, it lies on the main road through the valley.

On the old cobbled road linking Lessoc to Montbovon stands the best-preserved and most distinctive of the last wooden covered bridges in the canton of Fribourg. The construction date of the Lessoc Bridge (Haut-Intyamon) is carved into the oak portal on the right bank: 1667.

The Pontet, on the Col de Jaman road (Haut-Intyamon), is the oldest documented bridge in the canton of Fribourg, already shown on the 1578 map. Threatened with collapse, it was restored in 1993, during which the original stone paving of the roadway was uncovered, revealing the characteristic ruts left by passing carts.

The Grand Chemin linking the Ancien Comté on the left bank of the Sarine meets the Hongrin gorge before the village of Montbovon. At this crossroads stand three road bridges and one railway bridge, built over the past four centuries. The oldest, the Moulin Bridge over the Hongrin (Haut-Intyamon), probably dates from the 17th century.

The first mention of the Grandvillard Bridge, between Villars-sous-Mont and Grandvillard, dates to 1565. Its existence is confirmed by the 1578 map. Destroyed in 1638, it was replaced in 1641 by a new structure. Its semicircular stone arch spans 25.5 metres and rises 9 metres above the watercourse.

The Pont qui branle — whose “wobbly” name is fortunately only figurative — is located in Epagny, between La Berrauta and Le Châtelet. Covered with wooden shingles, it has crossed the Sarine since 1806.