Located near La Croisette, the Biasse Oratory was blessed and inaugurated on July 1, 2025. Built on the heights of the Salève, at an altitude of approximately 1,200 meters, this oratory dedicated to the Good Shepherd is undoubtedly the highest in the massif. The Biasse Oratory is bordered by two paths: the old footpath, now a pedestrian path, an hour's walk from the Salève cable car, and the Rochers de Faverges departmental road, at their intersection. It is also located at the arrival or departure point of the Orjobet trail (path) as the third route, and the Auberge des Crêts or its Alpine pasture, the departure point for paragliding and parasailing, as the fourth route.
The oratory itself stands at this location, like a pillar of life.
It is a tall column of dry stone from the Salève, or poorly cemented sandstone, built by Florent Pizzagli and Eric Dossin. It supports a lantern-shaped wrought iron cage, created by André Vidonne and Antoine Tardivel, which itself houses a wooden statue by wood sculptor Filippo Real, behind four polished glass panels.
It stands like a beacon above the sea of fog and clouds, facing Fort L'Ecluse, Fort Vauban, which is intended to protect the Rhône Valley. As such, it is not a broken column as in the art of sepulchres (cemeteries), meaning that it does not represent any kind of break with Life; on the contrary, it is the symbol of Life, guiding the sailor's course and, in this case, the mountaineer's path for tomorrow.
It is topped with this wrought iron lantern, itself surmounted by a handle in the shape of a Savoy cross, a symbol of Christians, the "Savoy" being a particularly Christian land; the walls are made of polished glass for transparency, and not wire or bars as in a prison, for the protection of the statue; it is also intended to be a symbol of light or illumination, like a door.
The wooden statue is protected by this polished glass held by this wrought iron; it represents a shepherd with his staff, like any mountain walker, or a pilgrim as on the Way of St. James. It was indeed difficult to propose a Virgin or "Our Lady of..." as is common in our mountains, particularly in front of a Calvinist Geneva, and indeed like a sought-after patron saint, a benefactor to boot.
Translated by Google •
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