Somlaproz | ferret-c

Entering Val Ferret from Orsieres, Somlaproz is the first village and ‘gateway’ of Val Ferret. Located on 950 m altitude, it is the junction where the road coming from Orsieres splits in the direction further into Val Ferret and the road leading up to Champex Lac. With 257 permanent residents, Somlaproz is the second largest settlement in Val Ferret after Praz-de-Fort / Saleinaz, and the fourth largest settlement in Orsieres municipality. .

The old core of Somlaproz village covers a small densely built up area with several old houses and barns. Somlaproz does not have a church or chapel in the vlllage, but Chapelle d’Eusebe situated in between Somlaproz and Orsieres was built to serve the village community. An old small water mill is located on the creek in the higher part of the village. In more recent years, the village sprawled significantly along the main roads in the direction of Orsieres and Champex-Lac with only a limited open area left between the village and Orsieres. Val Ferret’s main milk factory was located into Somlaproz until 2017, the year it merged with the Orsieres milk factory which was the first step of the plan to establish a new modern factory for the region, the Laitterie d’Orsieres, a good example of a rural development project as described in the blog ‘Laiterie d’Orsières, the new milk factory’. Chez Zeza in the heart of the village is the only cafe and restaurant, serving good pizza’s and a variety of local and Portuguese dishes with a friendly service.