Sembrancher

Sembrancher lies at the exit of the Trappist gorge and is located at the junction between the valleys of Bagnes and Entremont.

Although the franchise charter of 1239 covers an area around the village of Sembrancher, it also excludes the village and the two hamlets of Chamoille and La Garde, which lie opposite each other on either side of the Dranse below the village.

The first is thought to have Roman origins; the name of the second suggests that it was a strategic place at the gateway to the valley, as it is located on the old pass road. The name of the hamlet may also have been influenced by the supposed presence of the Saint-Jean castle near the hamlet, so called because it housed the village's guards.

The village is located on the flank of Catogne, a mountain whose volcano-like shape is visible from afar and serves as a landmark for travellers from the Lake Geneva basin. This mountain also has the particularity that its rocks contain a vein of fluorite that gives the numerous springs that flow through it essential mineral properties. These proven properties played an important role in the oral hygiene of the inhabitants, who quenched their thirst from these springs. A project to utilise and market them was finalised in 2009.

Opposite Catogne is Mont Chemin, which also holds geological treasures. Silver-bearing lead has been mined here since the early Middle Ages. Tunnels were dug to extract the ore and mining continued intermittently until the beginning of the 20th century.

Source: www.sembrancher.ch/page/portrait/pres...