What to do and see in Valle d'Aosta, Italy: The Best Things to do Good for a Rainy Day

On of the most important viticultural reality of Valle d'Aosta. Grosjean family is pioneer in organic wine making.

Among the most famous of the castles in the Aosta Valley, Fenis strikes visitors with its triumph of towers and crenellated walls. The castle sits on flat ground, which is unusual; Aimone de Challant improved it by building an impressive defensive system, which also features double curtain walls. However, more than being a fortress, the Fenis castle was a prestigious and refined residence: the courtyard and the rooms inside are rich in frescoes - the result of a decorating campaign started by Aimone’s son, Bonifacio in all likelihood. Not to miss is the famous St. George slaying the dragon by Jacquerio and his school, on the stone semicircular courtyard staircase. Many of the furnishings present, which are not original to the castle, were purchased by Alfredo d’Andrade, then Superintendent of Fine Arts, who supervised the restoration work at the end of the nineteenth century thus restoring the castle to its former glory.

Fortress of Bard complex is the protagonist of a wide project aimed at the creation of a cultural pole in the Western Alps of Italy. From impregnable defence for the valley the Fortress has been transformed into a gateway to the Alps’ culture and traditions, with a museum centre in the forefront of the international scenery dedicated to the mountain. Nowadays the Fortress offers only a part of the several activities planned by the project, whose purpose is to bring together innovative cultural spaces, services and accommodation in one single structure. To complete the project, in addition to the Museum of the Alps, The Children’s Alps, and the space for temporary exhibitions, Fortress of Bard will host two other museums (Frontiers Museum; Fortress Museum), an info-point to promote the cultural artistic heritage of Valle d’Aosta Region (already working); a school area provided with a lecture room for lessons, meetings and film projections; two conference rooms; a media centre; historical and thematic paths; a small refined hotel, a restaurant and a café (already working).

APRIRA' AL PUBBLICO qualora LA REGIONE VALLE D'AOSTA SIA "ZONA GIALLA" con orario continuato 10-17 nei soli giorni feriali, secondo le disposizioni MIBACT - Majestic, essential, powerful: these are the three adjectives that best describe this castle. A stone cube built in the late fourteenth century by Yblet of Challant on the rock overlooking the town of Verrès, in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape. The military character of this building perfectly melts with elegant carved stone details decorating its windows, doors and shelves of monumental chimneys. A stunning staircase with flying buttresses reaches the upper floors. Every year the halls of the castle hosts the traditional carnival characters of Verrès, in a blend of history and legend.

The way leading to the Cryptoporticus is located in the garden on John XXIII square. It is a monumental building marking a sacred area for cult. It is a basement building with a series of windows. It was horseshoe-shaped and is formed by two parallel tunnels with barrel vaults, supported by sturdy pillars. The Cryptoporticus dates back to the Augustan age: it served mainly as a supporting structure of the land level that in that part of the city formed a slight slope from North to South, therefore creating a gap between the sacred area and the adjacent legal area. The colonnade above him served as a cornice for the two temples that stood side by side on a single podium, which could be reached by a staircase. The long east side of the Eastern Temple is well-preserved, and it can be seen nowadays, under the archdeaconry building. The Cryptoporticus therefore formed a covered walkway surrounding the sacred buildings. Its galleries represented an extension of the Forum colonnade, whose main function was to protect from rain and snow in winter and from sun in summer. During the third and fourth centuries, it probably turned to be used for goods storage.

APRIRA' AL PUBBLICO qualora LA REGIONE VALLE D'AOSTA SIA "ZONA GIALLA" con orario continuato 10-17 nei soli giorni feriali, secondo le disposizioni MIBACT - The famous pomegranate fountain in the courtyard and the frescoes of the portico are of an extraordinary expressive power. Here are two reasons for this apparently humble building to be one of the most significant and fascinating castles of the Aosta Valley. Rebuilt at the end of the fourteenth century, after the Challant family bought it, its magnificent halls and rooms were conceived by George of Challant in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, at the turn between the last splendours of the Middle Ages and the innovations of the Renaissance. Thanks to the restoration of late nineteenth century all the richness of the original paintings and furniture has come to us in perfect conditions.

MAV opened on January 24, 2009. It houses in Villa Montana near the famous medieval castle of Fénis. MAV is not a nostalgic museum: the promotion of the works of its collection proves a dynamic project of cultural production in which the dialogue with the territory prevails and where community can identify the distinctive and evolutionary lines of a shared handicraft patrimony. Place for meeting and discussion as well as dynamical and inventive workshop, MAV connects the role of guardian of memory to cultural promotion, educational impulse and research activities aimed to create some opportunities for participation and exchange with the community and craftsmen. In the same spirit, the training vocation expresses in experiential learning activities focused on gestures and contact with the raw material devoted to a wide audience of youths and adults.

APRIRA' AL PUBBLICO qualora LA REGIONE VALLE D'AOSTA SIA "ZONA GIALLA" con orario continuato 10-17 nei soli giorni feriali, secondo le disposizioni MIBACT - With its pointed turrets standing out from the surrounding woods, the castle of Queen Margarita of Savoy looks straight out of a fairy tale. Though it was built on models of the late Middle Ages, it dates from the early Twentieth century. It was then equipped with the latest technical equipment of that time, and it is surrounded by a large park with all the dependencies and a rocky Alpine garden with many botanical species. The interior still shows part of the original furnishings: paintings, stained glass, wood panelling, coffered ceilings and furniture made according to the taste of the Queen, she is evoked in all its parts by the flower bearing her name. The tour includes the ground and the first floor, connected by a spectacular wooden staircase with griffins and eagles.