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The devil himself welcomes visitors to Bessans, in the heart of the village – a devil with four horns, ever since a legendary incident recounted by the local “chapoteur” (or wood carver), Georges Personnaz.
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A clawed demon can be seen fanning its bat wings on the 15th-century frescoes of the Saint-Antoine chapel in Bessans. Contemporary legend had its roots in the “Golden Legend” of Bernard of Menthon, who was archdeacon of Aosta in 966. The medieval chronicle affirms that the ecclesiastic captured the “demon” in person, at the Mont Joux pass, with his stole, which was miraculously transformed into a chain.
According to the secular version, the “demons” were, in reality, the very human guards of the mountain pass in the service of a feudal lord. Accused of banditry and pagan “superstition”, they were ousted by the future saint, no doubt assisted by a few brawny parishioners.
In the 18th century, a sculptor from Bessans transformed Saint Bernard into a debonair deacon holding the devil in check by means of his famous stole. The devil finally took his revenge in 1857 – with a reversal of the roles represented in the latter statue – according to a new tradition perpetuated today by Georges Personnaz and his son, at the sign of the “Chapoteur”. Note: the devil also sometimes carries off female parishioners...
