Bounavau-Charmey 

Nesting in the center of the Jogne valley, Charmey is a subalpine village at about 900 meters elevation. Its population (more than 1800 people) is growing: its location is prized for its high quality of life. Living traditions, beautifully preserved natural landscapes, and sports and cultural activities are abundant. The local economy is tied to agriculture and tourism. On mountaintop pastures and alpine farms, artisan cheese-makers produce Gruyère AOP and Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP during the summer months. The cheeses are then transported to the new Tzintre cheese cellars where they are aged. The village is home to several remarkable buildings, which bore witness to the golden age of alpine economy (16th to 18th century.).

With its furnace, anvil and rows of hammers all still intact, the Old Smithy in Charmey bears witness to the generations of craftsmen who once faithfully served the local farming community. Frédy Roos, son of the village’s last farrier, has lovingly preserved the workshop, which looks exactly as it would have done in the early 1900s (1919–1930). A single motor, with leather transmission belts tied around a tree, drives the drill press, threader, mechanical saw, emery wheel and sledgehammer. These and all the other essential tools of the trade contained within the forge’s four walls, now blackened by decades of soot from the furnace and the smoke from the hooves of the freshly shod horses, wait for the blacksmith to pick up his work where he left off the day before. The mission of the “Friends of the Old Smithy Charmey” is to preserve, use and enhance the value of this forge. The association organises guided tours of the workshop and demonstrations, on request.

The Alp cheesemaking season is short. Between April to October, alpine farmers make between two and three wheels of Alp cheese every day. The process involves heating milk in huge 800-litre capacity copper vats; twelve litres of milk are needed to make one kilo of cheese. The altitude and position on the mountain slope of the alpine farm as well as the surrounding flora and the cheesemaker’s expertise are what lends each cheese its unique and distinctive character. It is precisely this diversity that sets Gruyère d'Alpage AOP apart. Because Alp cheeses must be turned and brushed every day, in both summer and winter, they cannot be kept in the mountain ripening cellars for the entire 24 months. The armaillis [mountain dairy farmers] move the wheels to the La Tzintre ripening cellars (Charmey) in the valley below. These facilities, which accommodate 7,000 wheels of both Gruyère AOP (approx. 150 tonnes) and Vacherin fribourgeois AOP (20 tonnes), offer the best possible storage and matur

The conservation area of Vanil Noir lies in the middle of the Freiburg foothills and belongs to the municipalities of Charmey and Grandvillard. The area is of particular beauty and is of great scientific interest on account of its high biodiversity.

This information point in the laiterie fromagerie de Charmey visitor centre is given over entirely to the SUMMER-GRAZING SEASON The destinations featured here will allow you to explore, at your own pace, the different facets of this age-old alpine farming tradition, as well as the Park’s landscapes and villages. Along the way, you will also discover the region’s fascinating history, rich heritage and many other traditions that are still going strong today. Located on the premises of the Park’s partners, information points are the ideal place for visitors to familiarise themselves with the Park and everything it has to offer. These points feature interpretive panels as well as wealth of brochures, guides and leaflets in French, German and English.