Glacier Museum

In Lourtier, what the locals call “La Maison Perraudin” has now become La Maison des Glaciers. At the start of the 19th century, Jean-Pierre Perraudin (1767-1858), a peasant from Lourtier who was also a shepherd, a keen observer and a self-taught man, was one of the pioneers of the famous “glacier theory”, which revealed the former expansion of these masses of ice that once covered the entire Alpine valleys.

In 2018, this heritage-listed house is now arranged based on the observation of the Alpine territory. However, the way the museum’s former caretaker explains it, it is an active and curious observation which enriches us: “As my mum said, with eyes and ears you can pick up everything”!

The first floor looks through the eyes of Jean-Pierre Perraudin to tell us about life in bygone days, the relationship between the Giétro Glacier disaster in 1818 and glacier theory. On the second floor, living on the mountain is connected with natural disasters and memories.

Open on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from 2 pm to 6 pm in July and August. Please call to arrange visits on other days and during other months of the year.

In the 19th century, Jean-Pierre Perraudin, a native of Lourtier, helped to lay the foundations of glacier theory. His former family home is now houses the Glacier Museum.

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