Vignieu: Holiday Apartments and Houses

Vignieu reveals its character through an unusual combination of religious sites, historic buildings and landscapes of natural significance. Those choosing Vignieu as a travel destination can opt to rent a holiday apartment.

Culture and History

The Church of Saint-Blaise in Vignieu was built between 1877 and 1879. Its bell tower was constructed in 1888 according to plans by the architect Chamberot. The church includes a tall bell-tower porch with a glazed-tile spire.

The Chapelle des Ayes was built on the hill of the same name at a place where a resident named Teillon claimed to have experienced an apparition of the Virgin Mary on 25 March 1793. The chapel is a pilgrimage site for the residents of Vignieu and the surrounding towns. A procession takes place there every year on Easter Monday.

The Château de Chapeau Cornu also points to the area's earlier history: it was originally a fortified house built on the site of a former Roman camp. The Lavoir du Munard was established in 1880 at the intersection of Rue de l'Étang and Rue de Beauvenir.

The statue of Notre-Dame-des-Bois was erected in the 19th century by the former families of the Pradel estate and watches over the village of Vignieu from the heights. Every 15 August, a procession leads to the statue to ask for protection there.

In the town centre, the Fontaine Geneste is one of six purpose-built fountains. These six fountains supplemented the three older ones. Vignieu's craft tradition can be seen at Les Ateliers d’Isa: in open workshops, participants can make their own wooden bowl or stained-glass piece.

Nature

The site of the sandy dune Les Mémoires is included as a “Petit Site Naturel” (PSN023) in the network of Espaces Naturels Sensibles in the Isère département.

Sand extraction in the 1980s and 1990s created a sand cliff at Les Mémoires. It enabled a colony of bee-eaters to settle there.

The Espace Naturel Sensible Les Mémoires includes a pond, a reed bed and a fen. These habitats are classified as threatened habitats in the Red Book of Habitats of Isère.

Other places: Trept, Le Monestier-du-Percy, Clavans-en-Haut-Oisans, Serpaize, Montseveroux, Montcarra, Izeron, Huez

To the higher-level travel overview: Isere.