Pragelato

Pragelato lies in the upper Chisone valley among the Cottian Alps. From 1343 the valley formed one of the Escartons, a group of communities centred on Briançon that enjoyed local autonomy and shared the assessment of taxes. Mountain settlements on both sides of the range belonged to this arrangement until the Treaty of Utrecht changed the frontier in 1713. The valley was also a refuge for Waldensians, who faced repeated religious persecution.