Swiss Highlights

Mountain village · Valais

Champéry

At the head of the Val d'Illiez, a village set on a flysch terrace at about 1,050 metres, below the wall of the Dents du Midi.

Derivative illustration produced by Swiss Highlights from a freely licensed photograph.

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Translated during an AI-assisted second-pass review — not yet validated by a native-speaking editor.

Champéry lies on the left bank of the Vièze, on a flysch terrace known as the plateau de la Fin, west of the Dents du Midi and east of the pointe de Chésery, 12 km south-west of Monthey. The commune covers 38.88 km², but most of that surface stands on end: the 2013-2018 survey counts 36.3% woodland, 30.8% farmland, 28.9% unproductive ground — rock and scree — and only 4.0% buildings and infrastructure.

The bell tower is the most singular thing in the village. It belongs to the baroque church built in 1725, which replaced a chapel dedicated to Theodore of Octodurum raised in 1436. It ends neither in a roof nor in a spire: a balustrade carries four openwork stone arches that meet under a lantern and draw a closed crown. Its carillon holds eight bells — four from 1725, one from 1842, three from 1996 — and the tower has been listed as Swiss heritage since 1974. The present church, dedicated to Saint Theodulus, took the place of the old one.

Tourism came early: the Hôtel de la Dent-du-Midi opened in 1857, and in 1969 Champéry took part in creating the Portes du Soleil ski area, which straddles the French-Swiss border. The name is older than any of that: the first written mention, in the form champeirie, dates from 1180 and comes from a Latin personal name, campărĭus — the field warden — with a Celtic suffix. In the Valais dialect the village is called Tsanpirey. On 31 December 2024, 1,404 people lived here, 36 inhabitants per square kilometre; in 2023, 39.6% of them were over 60, against 27.5% in the canton as a whole.

Why this place is remarkable

A bell tower that refuses the spire: at Champéry the tower of 1725 ends on a balustrade from which four openwork stone arches rise and meet under a lantern, drawing a closed crown rather than a point. The village itself holds on to a narrow flysch terrace while 28.9% of its territory is neither farmed nor wooded: that is the measure of the wall of the Dents du Midi above it.

History and origin

The village sits on the plateau de la Fin, a terrace of flysch — sedimentary rock laid down and then carried along in the building of the Alps — on the left bank of the Vièze. The built history reads in three stages: a chapel in 1436, the baroque church and its tower in 1725, a new church in 1897; of the first ensemble only the tower came through, listed in 1974.

What to do and see

  • Watch the 1725 bell tower, which ends in a balustrade and four openwork stone arches gathered under a lantern rather than a spire.
  • Listen to the carillon of eight bells, four from 1725, one from 1842, three from 1996.
  • Stroll on the Fin plateau, a flysch terrace facing the Dents du Midi and the Pointe de Chésery.

Coming with family: what to know

  • 28.9% of the municipal territory is unproductive land, rock and scree, beneath the wall of the Dents du Midi.

As a couple

  • Walk on the left bank of the Vièze, at the foot of the wall of the Dents du Midi.
  • Picture the Hôtel de la Dent-du-Midi, opened as early as 1857, the first sign of tourism in the village.
  • As you stroll through the village, imagine its first mention in 1180, under the name champeirie.

Location

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