Beaulard’s History

Several hypothesis have been made around the origin of the name of Beaulard. It seems that the most credible version leads to the ancient tribe of the Belaci. These ones were the people that lived in the Bardonecchia valley before the arrival of the Romans. The Belaci’s name is even carved in the Augustus’s Arc in Susa, built in the in the 9 B.C.

Beaulard was independent until the 1929, since that year Beaulard will find itself under the jurisdiction of Oulx. The first traces of Beaulard date back to the period around the 1000. It is possible to assume that the area was populated even several years before. The oldest know document concerning the town of Beaulard dates back to the 1065, year when Beaulard’s chapel appears among the list of forty chapels that were given by the bishop of Turin to the diocese of S. Lorenzo D’Oulx.

Beaulard followed the events of the story of the Taller Valley of Susa: the Roman Dominion, the French occupation together with the presence of the monks of Novalesa in the Early Middle Ages. The people of the Taller Valley of Susa even had to deal with the infamous riders known as the Saracens. The Saracens where chased from the land around the 1000 thanks to the intervention of the marquis of Turin, Arduino il Glabro. From the 1070 onwards, Beaulard passed under the possession of the Counts of Albon the Delfini. Their last heir, Umberto II, in the 1343 granted to the communities of the territories of the so-called Grande Escarton the liberty to pour autonomously the tributes. Only six years later (1349), he gave his territories to the successor to the throne of France. The territories of the Delifini maintained autonomous until the 1457, year when the territories where definitely under the Reign of France. The Valley of Susa ended being a possession of the Savoia together with the Valley of Chisone thanks to the Utrecht treaty.

As the rest of the valley of Susa, the passing of riders and armies who were crossing the Alps marks the history of Beaulard. Both riders and armies left traces of violence and destruction, on the other hand being a “crossing land” allowed to the Valley to develop an artistic, architectural and linguistic culture unique in his genre.

A great example is Beaulard’s chapel of S Michele Arcangelo, built in the very early XI century. Over the years, the chapel received some modifications during the XV century and in baroque times, which, however, did not heavily, modified the structure of the chapel. In the inside is preserved the fresco dated to the 1480/90, the fresco depicts the Eternal, the twelve apostles, the symbols of the four evangelists and an historically relevant baptismal font made out of stone dated 1501.

Nowadays Beaulard presents itself as a tourist resort, known for the peace and silence the wish to recover its heritage. Several initiatives promoted by the local “Associazione Agricola Turistica” (touristic and agricultural association) took place during the last years. Some of these initiatives involve exhibitions of local traditions, the trails maintenance, the valorizations of the ancient celebrations, the restauration of some of the most iconic buildings like the ancient hoven (when every year in Christmas is set up the traditional handmade Occitan nativity scene). While On the linguistic field, the research of the Patouà (ancient Occitan language). There is also a little itinerary around the old borough done to get to know Beaulard and everything he has to show to the visitors. Meanwhile several private initiatives are working to retrieve Beaulard’s alpine architectural heritage.

 

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