Usseaux

The first documented information on the existence of Usseaux, Pourrieres, Balboutet and Fraisse dates back to the year 1064 when Countess Adelaide founded the Abbey of Santa Maria di Pinerolo by donating the territories of the upper valley to it. The birth of the hamlet of Laux is attributed instead to a group of exiles from Lyon and Provence at the beginning of the 13th century, exiles persecuted by the State and the Church as heretics. In Usseaux, you can admire the 40 murals painted on the façades of the houses, the bread oven, the wash houses, the fountains and the Canton Mill, which is in an excellent state of preservation, working and can be visited on Sundays in August. Also of interest is the 'Brunetta d'Usseaux - Protagonists and Heroes' Museum Point, dedicated to the figure of Count Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux, Secretary General of the International Olympic Committee, who contributed to the birth of the Italian Olympic Committee and was one of the first IOC members to propose the creation of the Winter Olympic Games in 1911.