The Church of Notre-Dame des Neiges

Description

The church of Notre-Dame des Neiges is famous for its architecture, its organ in the shape of an outstretched hand and its 13 stained-glass windows (illustrating scenes from the Gospel according to Saint Mark) painted by the artist Arcabas.

It is famous for its original tent-like architecture and its stained glass windows painted by the Isère artist Arcabas, including La Cène, presented in 2014 at the Chartes International Stained Glass Center exhibition. In the run-up to the 1968 Olympic Games, the idea arose to replace the small wooden chapel at Alpe d'Huez with a larger church, from which the Meije could be seen. Under the impetus of Dutch priest Jaap Reuten, who served there from 1964 to 1992, Notre-Dame des Neiges was inaugurated on December 6, 1969. Financed by donations from parishioners and numerous benefactors, the church was built using simple materials (concrete for the circular frame, copper for the roof, glued laminated timber for the framework, translucent glass for the dome). A film about its construction and liturgical and cultural life, directed by Laurence Monroe, was broadcast on KTO in 2013.