Man and the mountains
Man came to put down roots in this valley for many reasons. The inhabitants had to fight to win the right to settle here, living in a never-ending compromise with an omnipresent nature.
The people of Sixt have been breeders and farmers for centuries, and have also tried their hand at mining, stone cutting, peddling and even smuggling. After 1860 they started to welcome the first visitors who had come to contemplate the splendours which mother nature had brought together in this place. They guided their visitors up to the summits of the mountains and little by little transformed their houses into accommodation for tourists, built hotels and then ski lifts.
Once the abbey had been built, the valley began to fill up. For generations men cleared the forests and started to gain ground on the mountains in order to farm the land and breed livestock. They developed the transformation and then the trading and sale of dairy products. However, the climate in this valley meant that productivity was poor and natural disasters (rock falls, fires, floods) also took their toll.
A generation of stonecutters saw the light of day all along the Haut-Giffre valley. They worked with the 'Noir de Sixt' (a limestone which is still used to this day). Their reputation soon spread over the mountains. In the summer, they left the valley to work on different construction sites throughout Europe. This form of seasonal migration is specific to the Haut-Giffre valley.
Marie s'habille ... ou le costume féminin à Sixt à la fin du XIXème siècle
Auteur : Anne MAUTAINT
Edité par l'Association des Amis de la Réserve Naturelle de Sixt
Livret illustré de 16 pages en vente à l'Office du Tourisme à 1.50 €.
Cet ouvrage fait l'inventaire de ce qui compose le costume traditionnel
des dames dans son contexte (vie quotidienne, mariage...)