Post 3. Barn District

The street of the old village of Niouc, located below the main road is lined with several old farm buildings. The barns (raccards) are constructions in wood and masonry, on two levels,
the second based on round stones supported by wooden stilts (pilotis).

These buildings were used to store grain. After drying on balconies, wheat sheaves were beaten to separate the grain inside theraccards.

Well adapted to dry land, wheat and oat crops were predominant in Niouc. As these are not crops that can be grown at altitude, they could be planted only in Sierre and Niouc.

When an irrigation system was put in place, pastures gradually replaced the grain crops. Therefore, the mill and the bread oven in Muraz (Sierre) were abandoned and several barns in Niouc were converted into stable barns.

Until the 1950s, the owners cut the grass slope with sickles and brought weeds removed from the vineyards of Muraz to feed the cows.

One of these barns was known by the villagers as the bear’s barn. The door was damaged by a bear trying to release a cub that had been locked inside by the owner of the raccard.

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Now go back to the main road to get to the chapel.