Chalmazel

Chalmazel, in Forézian Arpitan Vers-Charmasél (pronounced [ve.ʃam.ˈze]), is a former French commune in the Loire department of the Rhône-Alpes region, known for its winter sports resort and château.

By decree of October 22, 2015, effective January 1, 2016, Chalmazel merges with Jeansagnière to create the first new commune in the Loire: Chalmazel-Jeansagnière.

Geography
The commune of Chalmazel lies at the heart of the Forez mountains, a mountain range in the Massif Central separating the Dore valley from the Forez plain. The village lies at an altitude of 800 metres on the side of a valley bordered by the Lignon, a tributary of the Loire. The boundary of the commune is marked to the east by the Col de la Croix de Ladret (1,046 metres) and the Pic de Morière (1,137 metres), and to the west by the Col du Béal (1,390 metres) and the massif's highest point, Pierre-sur-Haute (1,631 metres). However, the latter is located on the commune of Sauvain for some 250 meters, unlike the winter sports resort on its flank, which remains on Chalmazel. The ridge running through the Col du Béal and Pierre-sur-Haute also marks the separation between the departments of Loire (Rhône-Alpes region) and Puy-de-Dôme (Auvergne region). It is home to vast, undulating plateaux of moorland dotted with peat bogs, known as the hautes Chaumes, classified Natura 2000 for their floristic interest.

Origin of the commune's name
The name Chalmazel has been around since ancient times. According to Albert Dauzat, the origin of the toponym could come from *calmis: high bare plateau, a Prelatin word; and mazel: mazet, mas, manse, house, from the Latin man(s)um, substantive past participle of the verb manere: to dwell.

Various spellings are attested over the centuries: Chalmazel in 1214, Chalmasel in 1225, Charmazel in 1313, Chalmazel in the 18th century (Cassini map).

After the Revolution, the parish became a commune: An II (1793): Chalmazelles. Bulletin des lois of 1801: Chalmazelle. And finally in 1939: Chalmazel, the definitive official spelling.

History
In 1231, Guy IV, Count of Forez, allowed his loyal vassal Arnaud de Marcilly to build a fortified house at Chalmazelles. The objectives were clear: on the one hand, to control the upper Lignon valley, a modest passageway between the provinces of Forez and Auvergne via the present-day Béal pass, and on the other, to guard the seigneury of Couzan, owned by the Damas family with links to the German Emperor (Renaud de Damas was not a secure vassal for the Count of Forez).

By 1250, Chalmazelle had become, along with Couzan, Rochefort and Urfé (aux d'Urfé), one of the four great keep seigneuries of the “evening mountains” (Monts du Forez).

The Talaru family succeeded the Marcilly family in the seigneury of Chalmazel: Béatrix de Marcilly, who had married Mathieu de Talaru, became heiress to Antoine de Marcilly, her brother, in 1388; the land of Chalmazel thus remained with the Talaru family (ancient nobility of Forez).

The church of Chalmazel seems to have been founded around 1270 under Jean de Marcilly, second lord of Chalmazel, and dedicated to Saint Jean-Baptiste, the patron saint of its founder.

The parish of Chalmazel was at that time an annex of Saint-Just-en-Bas; the oldest known parish priest of Chalmazel is Giraud de Boissel, originally from Saint-Just-en-Bas, who lived in 1370.

According to the Cahier des Visites (the bishop's inspection tour) of 1614, the parish was named Saint-Jehan-des-Neiges; then, in 1662, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and finally Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

The ancient church of Saint-Jehan-des-Neiges was demolished in 1881 and replaced by the present-day church, best known for its famous stained-glass windows by Théodore Hanssen (1885-1957), an internationally renowned master glass artist.

On the death of the last Marquis, Louis-Justin de Talaru, in 1850, the château was bequeathed to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who used it as a hospice and dispensary until 1972.

Politics and administration
It was part of the Loire Forez urban community.

Demographics
The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses carried out in the commune since 1793. As of January 1, 2009, the legal populations of municipalities are published annually as part of a census that is now based on an annual collection of information, successively covering all municipal territories over a five-year period. For municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, a census survey of the entire population is carried out every five years, with the legal populations of the intervening years estimated by interpolation or extrapolation. For the commune, the first exhaustive census under the new system was carried out in 2004. From 1962 to 1999: population without double counting; for subsequent dates: municipal population.

(Sources: Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1999, then Insee from 2006).

In 2013, the commune had a population of 383, down -12.36% on 2008 (Loire: 1.48%, France excluding Mayotte: 2.49%).

Places and monuments

 * Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Chalmazel. The building was listed as a historic monument in 2021.

The castle
Château de Chalmazel stands in the middle of the village. Construction began in 1231 under the Marcilly family and was continued by the Talaru family from 1372. Part of the Forez domain, this feudal castle was used to control the road to Auvergne via the Béal pass. Medieval in appearance, it retains elements of the fortified house dating from 1231, but with all the successive modifications and additions made by the Talaru family over the centuries: loopholes, base of the walls, keep, machicolated parapet walk. It also features Renaissance elements: facade, inner courtyard, galleries and chapel. Now restored, it is open to visitors and has guest rooms and function rooms.

The ski resort
The ski resort is located at an altitude of 1,109 meters, in a place called Les Bois, 4 kilometers as the crow flies from the village 250 meters below. The resort is linked to the village by the 6-kilometer route départementale no. 63, and is served by route 112 of the Transports Interurbains de la Loire (TIL).

The first Chalmazel ski lift was built in 1953, and from the 1960s onwards, the resort expanded under the impetus of Éloi Marcoux, president of the local Ski-club, and Henri Essertel, general secretary of the commune of Montbrison and the Régie de Chalmazel. Support from the Conseil Général and its president, Antoine Pinay, enabled the gondola to be built in 1967.

The ski area extends from 1,109 to 1,600 meters, directly on the slopes of Pierre-sur-Haute (1,634 meters), the highest point of the Monts du Forez. It alternates between forests and wild highland moors (les hautes Chaumes) and boasts 12 kilometers of downhill ski runs, served by 1 detachable bubble chairlift and 7 drag lifts, and equipped with 90 snow guns. Conditions permitting, the resort also boasts a small snowpark, and the surrounding area is ideal for cross-country skiing (Haut Forez Nordic area at Col de la Loge) and snowkiting (Col du Béal). The resort also offers summer activities ( accrobranche park, mountain biking, hiking via chairlift).

Chalmazel mainly attracts daily visitors from the Forez plain and the Roanne and St. Etienne conurbations, less than 80 kilometers away, but also, to a lesser extent, from Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon.