Journées du Patrimoine à Vesancy

Heritage Days 2026 in Vesancy: Migrants in the Village

As part of Heritage Days, a lecture will be held at Vesancy Castle (Balthazar Room) at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18, followed by a guided walking tour on Sunday, September 20 (meet at 2:30 p.m. at Place de la Batteuse).

We often forget that people in the past moved around—and moved around a great deal. In Vesancy, while a few families—the Favres, Ducrets, Taverniers, and Saint-Martins—have been here since the Middle Ages, many others arrived in the centuries that followed: the Ardin, Venarre, Hotellier, Mugnier, Roger, Sage, Beaudet, and Robbez families… Some stayed, while others left after a few years. While it is easier to track the families who arrived using the archives, those who left—and especially the women who married—are harder to trace.

Certain professions also contributed to migration. Schoolteachers and parish priests were often outsiders. They rubbed shoulders with the cheese maker—whether Swiss or Savoyard—the forest ranger, the baker, and sometimes the café owner. But one activity of great importance to the village had been developing since the Revolution. Quarrymen and stonemasons were rarely native to Vesancy. The Chacornac, Rey, Quincieux, Trolliet, Grignola, and Rappetti families came from the Massif Central, northern Isère, as well as Piedmont and Lombardy. And more recently, since World War II, Vesancy—like the rest of the Pays de Gex—has welcomed families from many countries who come to work for international organizations or at CERN.

Alexandre Malgouverné