The Notre-Dame-de-Any-Grâce church is located in the town of Passy, in Haute-Savoie, 20 km west of Chamonix.
Located on the Assy plateau, at an altitude of 1000 m, it faces the Mont Blanc range.
Its construction began in 1937 at a time when the plateau had about twenty specialized establishments (sanatoriums welcoming tuberculosis patients), some of them having their own chapel.
It was Canon Dévémy who wanted to build a church to accommodate all the sick and the nursing staff. The Savoyard architect Maurice Novarina was responsible for designing the plans, generally classic, and will use materials from the region.
It is at the end of the war, when the structural work is completed that the history of the church becomes unique: thanks to one of his friends, Dominican Father Marie-Alain Couturier, Canon Dévémy enters contact with contemporary artists to decorate the building. The first work chosen for this purpose is a stained glass window by Rouault representing the Christ of the Passion, seen in Paris, and the dimensions of which correspond perfectly to one of the windows... This "little miracle" in the words of the canon is followed by the collection of paintings, sculptures, ceramics and stained glass windows signed by the greatest masters of the time such as Rouault, Bonnard, Lurçat, Matisse, Braque, Léger, Chagall…
The church consecrated in 1950 has since turned out to be a true contemporary museum of sacred art. The building is protected as historical monuments.
More recently, a monumental steel sculpture by Gilles Roussi in the shape of an obelisk six meters high, and on which is engraved the text of the declaration of human rights, was installed around fifty meters from the church.
Open all year round, free or guided visit on request. Information on +33 5 50 58 80 52.
