In the Arvan valley, in the heart of the Maurienne, the hamlet of Entraigues is known for its old stone houses with slate roofs, its small church and its sundial, the most beautiful and original in Savoie. Discover it!
A typically Savoyard hamlet
At the confluence of the Arvan and Valfroide rivers, take advantage of your holiday rental in Savoie to visit Entraigues, one of the 28 hamlets of Saint-Jean-d'Arves. It is here, at the entrance of the high valley of Arves, at an altitude of 1,300 metres, that stands a small church built in 1846 thanks to the donations of the inhabitants, not without difficulty. On the south-west wall, one can admire a sundial of great originality. According to specialists, the instrument is one of the most beautiful and enigmatic in Savoie.
A curiosity to decipher
Dated 1843 and superbly restored in 1999, the sundial of Entraigues is 1.50 metres wide and 2 metres high. At the top of the sundial is a motto in Latin: "Horam sole silente neqo", which could be translated as "I refuse to tell the time if the sun is silent".
At the bottom of the dial appears the coded name of its builder, Giuseppe Gibello, about whom very little is known. The mysterious dial maker signed his name by replacing all the vowels in his name with numbers: 1 = a, 2 = e, 3 = i, 4 = o, 5 = u. The central part of the dial indicates the solar noon of 37 places in the world (Cyprus, Cairo, Jerusalem...). Each place is represented by a red celestial star.
There are also several unusual symbols such as a protractor, a compass, a square and a plumb line. What message was intended to be conveyed? No one knows. The Entraigues sundial still holds all its mysteries.
Walks and hikes in the Aiguilles d'Arves country
Has the sundial of Entraigues revealed all its secrets to you? The small village is the starting point for several wild hikes, with the Aiguilles d'Arves in the background. At the confluence of the Arvan and Valfroide rivers, the Heritage Trail allows you to discover the old Savoyard houses in the hamlets of Saint Jean d'Arves, the chapel of Saint Barbe de Villaret, the hay cables that used to transport the barillons from the mountain pastures to the village, and the old granaries and bread ovens.
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