Origin

The history of Sixt starts with the Faucigny family. Their vast uncultivated and wild territories, certainly sometimes visited by hunters, were given to the Abondance abbey by Aymon 1er de Faucigny (the pious) in 1130.His brother Ponce, who was a novice there, was naturally sent to Sixt to start, in 1135, an monastery and its rules following those of St Augustin. In 1144; the monestry became an Abbey and was placed under the protection of the Holy Virgin, a choice that was confirmed later by the Adrien IV Bull in 1155 which is still kept with the Church's treasures. Ponce de Faucigny was its first Bishop with a crook and a mitre. The abbey spread rapidly thanks to a brother Arducius (Prince Bishop of Geneva) who gave the abbey the "Samöens parish" (a wealthy place thanks to the dîme, an old french tax), Mt Saxonnex's parish and the Fillinges and Châtillon barns.

As the centuries passed, Guillaume, lord of Faucigny gave jurisdiction in 1200 and had germanic settlers come over who joined those who had spontaneously followed the clergymenin order to clear the forests and and work in the "quarries". There will be 30 bishops at the head of the abbey : 20 of which were of important Savoyard families, elected by the canons; then at the end of the XVth century, Bishops coming from important Italian families.

The part François de SALES played

The Savoyards had an advantage over the second half of the XVIth and the first half of the XVIIth century as for 3 generations (uncle to nephew)the Mouxy family were head of the abbey. It was a troubled time during which there was a religious decline and the buidings were in a dilapidated state, F. de Sales tried to put some order during his episcopal numerous visits : there was a trial at the Sénat de Savoie that was lost by Jacques de Mouxy¿ on his death bed, he promised F. de Sales the rule of St Augustin would be reinstated and that the abbey, especially the refectory would be restored. F. de sales resusciated the worship of Ponce de Faucigny and had a monument built in his honour. Many chapels and oratories were built by the inhabitants as a token of their faith (in1896, Ponce will become Ponce the Blessed as an official recognition of his worship).

The canons and the population

Once the order was restored the community not only had its spiritual occupations but also ensured its duty to the population : charity three times a year, blessing of the houses,maintenance of the roads and dyking up of the Giffre etc. The canons intervened in the pastoral life (defending the interests of the mountain dwellers when necessary).The population was even freed before the 1762 and 1771 edicts.The inhabitants of Sixt kept a close eye on the events of 1789 (there were seasonal migrations).

The ending of the Abbey

In 1793, the canons refused to take an oath to the constitution, they went into exile to Switzerland, some of the elders went into hidding among the population and took a few valuable objects that were hence saved from the sans- culottes' pillaging; they came from Samöens and were lead by Pierre Milleret (notary) who bought the abbey and the lands(which were sold as national property in 1794)and sold them baxk to the inhabitants of Sixt a year later.

The dream of a Mine

In 1809, the abbey is sold again in two parcels, Albanis Beaumont,a distingished naturalist, bought half the buildings to set up his administrative head-quaters : he obtained the authorization to exploit the iron mine. The other half was bought by André Cochet who turned it into a inn.A.Beaumont died soon after, the brawls between the miners and the mountain dwelers ended all mining activity in 1853.

The Inn

The abbey became an inn then a stopping place for stage coaches. The English arrived in our mountains and in Sixt it was Sir Alfred Willis who changed the habits. He was a London lawyer, started the Alpine club and, being a lover of Sixt, he climbed up all the surrounding summits with his guide Auguste Balmat (Jacque Balmat's nephew); after many difficulties(being both a stranger and an anglican), he built a chalet in the Fonts "cirque" and brought many English holiday camps to Sixt. The inn then became a worldwide renowned hotel( the Princes of Orlean(heirs to the throne of France), the Minister Cavour, Prince Napoléon, and in 1884 William II) and belonged to the Rannaud family from 1895 up to nowadays. Its destiny is certainly going to give a new lease of life to Sixt with the Grand Site plan and the buying in 2000 of the abbey by the Conseil Général (county council)who wants to turn it into a place for community life and museographics.