Bozel

The centre of the village is located in the border of the stream of the Bonrieu which gave before the energy of the mill and other sawmill.
The village has got different services, schools, shops, leisure area and handcraft area really active.

The way of how the different hamlets are located show the ancestral way of life, which was based on the cultivation and on the farm.
The most part of the people are leaving in the south mountainside. Then, we can find the hamlet of Villemartin, les Mollinets, le Ratelard, Lachenal and Tincave, they are lively all the year long. Upper 1300 m height, the hamlet of les Champs, les Monts, le Pré, le Cour and Mirabozon are lively only during the summer.

The north mountainside has got less people. Only les Moulins is lively all the year long. Upper we can find l’Epine, le Reposoir and Montcharvet, relic of old farms that are now recover by the forest.

In summer, Bozel is close to the Vanoise massif which is really attractive for hiking. In the winter, the village is really close to big ski areas, 3 Vallées and Paradiski, which is really attractive for snow sports.

History...

Bozel has got different name before: Bosellis (1170), Bossel (1691), Boselles (1759) and Bozeil (1764). Its name comes from the latin word “Buxellus” which mean the “wood”.
The people of Bozel are named “Bozelains” and “Bozelaines”.

Bozel has still got a proof of a human being in Savoie, and particularly in Bozel, 2500 years ago BC.

Bozel had an important vineyard and its most important economy was the production of cheese (Beaufort) which was exported in Italy (Piemont) through the “Col de la Vanoise”.
It’s the reason why the architecture of our villages and hamlets are like this: Houses (or chalets) was used for living and for the cultivation.
The first floors was often half-buried and build with rocks, it was used for human living and for stable for cattle, which was used to reheat the room. The upper floors were built with wood and were used as hayloft.
At the end of the 19th century, Bozel has seen a new era with the ore-mining from 1880, a new factory in le Villard du Planay in 1898 and a power station in les Moulins in 1910.
200 employees were working in this factory in 1920 which closed in 1984.

The valley has been then developed with the tourism, with the hydrotherapy industry first and the mountaineering and with the winter sports. The ski resorts have been developed in 45-60’s with Courchevel.