The Lariey cemetery, also known as the Plague Cemetery

Name: The Lariey cemetery, also known as the Plague Cemetery
Address: Parking route D135 Chef-lieu, Puy-Saint-Pierre, 05100
Telephone: 06 07 07 31 08
Price range: Free access.

Puy-Saint-Pierre

A path through the forest leads to the Lariey cemetery. - © Laury Chamerlat/OTHV

This short walk below the village takes you to an unlikely little cemetery, nestled in the Bois du Ban forest: Le cimetière de la Peste, built during the plague epidemic of 1629-1631.

Description

From the small parking lot on the last bend below Puy-Saint-Pierre, take the wide dirt track (GR50 markings, red and white), signposted Les Eduits - StChaffrey.

This dirt track continues flat for 600 meters, stopping at the crossroads (Les Queyrelles-Briançon - StChaffrey - Pralong-Notre dame des neiges - Prorel). Go down to the sign (Accès domaine - Briançon - Prorel) and pass under the Prorel gondola, which quickly leads to the wide Prorel ski run (Vauban).

At this point, descend a few metres down this grassy stretch to pick up a small path just opposite. The route to follow is marked by a red signpost indicating "Le Cimetière de la Peste" ("The Plague Cemetery").

After a few steps, a red sign indicates the location of the cemetery on the left, overlooking the path.

The cemetery itself, whose entrance is marked by a cross, is very modest in size, but a true testimony to a plague epidemic that struck much of Europe.

Pick up the path again, which continues through the woods and then rises steeply for a hundred metres or so, before picking up the wide GR50 track that leads back to your starting point on the left.