Secret alleys of Chambéry

If you have ever visited the neighborhood of Vieux-Lyon, you are certainly familiar with the traboules system, those secret passages allowing you to cross building courtyards to reach two parallel streets. But do note that the term ‘traboules’ is exclusive to the city of Lyon. Here in Chambéry, they are called “allées”, which literally translates to alleys. There are about a hundred of them. These passages emerged in the 14th century with the introduction of the “toisé,” a tax indexed on the width of shops that merchants and artisans had to pay. This tax was quite expensive in Chambéry, about double of what was practiced in Lyon. To minimize this expense, the inhabitants built their shops and homes as narrow as possible. This resulted in a construction known as “lanière,” shaping the urbanism of the old town. At that time, the alleys were in the open-air but narrow and unsanitary, a component of the lower depths of the medieval city, ravaged by plague and cholera. They were covered in the 16th century with the disappearance of the tax and the improvement of facades. Today, the secret alleys of Chambéry are at the heart of heritage developments, and owners are encouraged and supported in their renovation. Here, you are in front of a rather intriguing arch. This is the Celse Morin door, whose strange reliefs and ornaments highlight the author’s interest in alchemy. It was built in the 16th century to close the alley that bordered the residence. Morin was a counselor in the French parliament of Chambéry. When the door was damaged during the Allied bombings in ’44, it was dismantled and placed in the Savoy museum before being reassembled stone by stone at its current location in 1982. Discreet, it remains a total mystery, buried in the heart of Chambéry.