Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne: The Opinel Knife and the Cathedral's Walnut Stalls
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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200
XP
+100 France
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1 day
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne: The Opinel Knife and the Cathedral's Walnut Stalls
200 + 100 XP
Joseph Opinel made his first folding knife with a wooden handle in 1890, aged 18, at Gevoudaz, a hamlet of Albiez-le-Vieux in the Maurienne, and in 1909 he registered the Main couronnée of the duchy of Savoy that is stamped on every blade; the Opinel museum is in the town, in the Palais de Martiniana. The cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste keeps 82 choir stalls that bishop Étienne Morel commissioned from the Genevan sculptor Pierre Mochet, finished on 14 May 1498 and cut from the walnut trees of the bishops' residence at Argentine in the lower Maurienne, along with a cloister of the later 15th century and a reliquary holding three fingers of John the Baptist. On the Opinel roundabout stands a 3.83m knife, the largest in the world and a Guinness record holder since 2002.
Required Activities
1
of 4
In the Opinel museum, opened in 1989 in the workshop of Jacques Opinel's grandfather and enlarged in 2013, look closely at the Main couronnée on a blade and count the three fingers — the relics of John the Baptist that Saint Thecla is said to have carried from Alexandria in the 6th century, and the same hand that stands on the arms of the town
2
of 4
In the cathedral, find the reliquary that holds three fingers of John the Baptist, then walk the 82 stalls finished on 14 May 1498, cut from the walnuts of the bishops' own estate at Argentine, and the ciborium of 1497 beside them
3
of 4
Find the 3.83 m Opinel standing on the Opinel roundabout, the biggest in the world and in the Guinness World Records since 2002, then go on to the Versus skatepark above the town and find the Opinel painted into the Volcano ramp
4
of 4
Go down to the Romanesque crypt from the cloister — filled in during the 15th century and not found again until 1958 — under a roof whose trusses have been dated to 1075 and 1076, then find the antique-style relief under the porch showing the emperor Conrad the Salian granting Humbert the county of Maurienne
In the Opinel museum, opened in 1989 in the workshop of Jacques Opinel's grandfather and enlarged in 2013, look closely at the Main couronnée on a blade and count the three fingers — the relics of John the Baptist that Saint Thecla is said to have carried from Alexandria in the 6th century, and the same hand that stands on the arms of the town
In the cathedral, find the reliquary that holds three fingers of John the Baptist, then walk the 82 stalls finished on 14 May 1498, cut from the walnuts of the bishops' own estate at Argentine, and the ciborium of 1497 beside them
Find the 3.83 m Opinel standing on the Opinel roundabout, the biggest in the world and in the Guinness World Records since 2002, then go on to the Versus skatepark above the town and find the Opinel painted into the Volcano ramp
Go down to the Romanesque crypt from the cloister — filled in during the 15th century and not found again until 1958 — under a roof whose trusses have been dated to 1075 and 1076, then find the antique-style relief under the porch showing the emperor Conrad the Salian granting Humbert the county of Maurienne
Before you go
Opinel knives are no longer made here: production moved to Cognin near Chambéry from 1915 and the head office has been in Chambéry since 2003, so the museum is the knife's story rather than a working factory. The cathedral's spire once reached 80 m and was destroyed in the Revolution; the cloister has been a listed monument since 1899 and the cathedral since 1906.
The Opinel museum is free and open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6.30pm, seven days a week in July and August, with the last visit half an hour before closing — but it is shut on Sundays and every public holiday, which is the day most people in the Maurienne have free. The cathedral, the cloister and the crypt, the giant knife on the roundabout and the skatepark cost nothing.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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