Feissons sur Salins

The inhabitants of Feissons are called the « Feissonnais ». Feissons probably comes from the latin word « fagus » which means beech. It’s an evolution of the word « Faisse » which is a place where there is a big beech. In the Middle-Age documents, it is sometimes written « Feyssonis » or « Foissé ».

The city is facing the south, forming a spur dominating the Moûtiers Valley (the Croix de Feissons which is at 1503 meters and downhill the Bozel Valley above the steep area of copse overhanging the road from Melphe to the Frasse, ancient provincial road).

This panoramic viewpoint, giving a good point of view to discover the four valleys joining in Moûtiers, may explain the presence of a carved stone at « La Charpine », west of « Le Villard » comparable to the one in « La Vallée des Merveilles » in the Mercantour and the « Val Camonica » in Lombardy.

The parish of Feissons was attached to the abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune and we don’t know when this dependence ended. Dedicated to Saint-Maurice, the actual church was built during the 18th century.

Despite the small territory, the livestock in 1561 was quite large : 110 cows, 21 « moges », 29 « mogeons », 13 calves, 77 goats and 370 sheep. Back in these days, the presence of three draft ox showed the importance of farming. The exposure favoured the cereal farming.