Heritage: La Magdeleine, Saint-Vincent

The mills of La Magdeleine still preserve a great charm, reminding us of ancient times, when mills were the hub of country life.
In the hamlets of Brengon, Clou and Messelod, aligned by a small stream of water that comes from a source underneath Monte Tantané, there are eight mills; seven of them have been renovated and three, like they did a long time ago, are today able again to grind grains, that in the past were harvested on the sunny slopes of the hills that surrounded the town.
The origins of these buildings were lost during the centuries, but they are certainly very old, just like the first human settlements in the hamlets of the current municipality of La Magdeleine.
The importance of mills in rural economy is confirmed also by the fact that frequently, the right to use windmill for a certain period of time was transferred with the ownership of a field or portion of land.
The peculiarity of mills is also the fact that they were placed in a “chain” form, in order to better use the little water available at the time: this evidently also conditioned the “technology” used: these watermills have a horizontal hydraulic wheel without gears or other mechanisms, as opposed to millstones.
Furthermore, in order to better use the little water available, it was necessary that all eight mills carry out their activities almost at the same time: following this method the result was basically that of multiplying by eight the working capacity of water. Therefore precise “Mill user’s regulations” were set whereby methods and operational timing were established in addition to the rights of participants or owners.
According to a diffused custom, also the mills of La Magdeleine had names that derived from their location, the owners or from the families who let them build.
Starting from the mill on the highest position, the names that were found thanks to the memories of town elders are the following: moulin hatu, moulin d’Arfonse, moulin of Tonne, moulin of Chioset, moulin de la Place, moulin of Mule and moulin of Messelou.

During the summer are open the first three mills to discover with free visits. For groups and school groups it is possible to organize guided tours, contact the qualified tourist guides of the Aosta Valley included in the “regional lists”.

The archaeological site beneath the parish church of Saint-Vincent is testimony to a continuous occupation starting from the first settlements dating back to the Late Bronze Age / Iron Age. In Roman times (2nd- 4th centuries AD), various buildings with a thermal function were discovered.
After the beginning of the 5th century AD, the area was occupied by tombs, typical of early Christianity, that were positioned from east to west.
Their presence seems to have led to the foundation of a first funerary building. Further stages of burial followed in the 7th and 8th centuries, prior to the erection of the Romanesque church.

Visitors can discover the site using a didactic route fitted with information panels and multimedia support.

The imposing ruins that are visible along the state road leading to Montjovet, give some hint of the ancient majesty of the bridge and recall how the Gallie consular road also crossed this part of the valley.

Only the left hand shoulder of the original construction over the Cillian river remains today, the central arch collapsed in 1839.

Noteworthy due to its elegant design and completed in small sized square slabs, the bridge must have been important not only for the natural function it served, but also as a sign of power and constructive solidity.

Situated in the town of Moron, on the Saint-Vincent hillside.

Its current structure, with a large circular apse, dates back to the XV century, when important changes were made to a probable, pre-existing Romanesque building. For some time it conserved certain parish church prerogatives (festive functions and cemetery), even though it was never a parish church.

The apse vault has a beautiful series of ribbed stone. Recent restoration removed the modern structures and decor, in an attempt to restore the church to its original appearance.
In the past, on Easter Monday, the so-called “vineyard procession” took place, which in almost six hours passed through all the villages and chapels on the Saint-Vincent hillside.

Built by the Benedictines in the XI century in Romanesque style, the church was subject to multiple architectures one over the another, but also some significant modern restoration (1968 - 1972).

It is located on the structures of a Roman building, brought to light during recent restoration and which dates back to 300-400 A.D. It could have been a huge Patrician villa or a public building; it has a dual heating system using air blown under the floor, which was used to heat the “calidarium”.
The archaeological site under the church is currently closed.

Inside, there is a huge, clear contrast between the sobriety of the environment and the wealth of decorative paintings in the absidal area. The nave is divided into a succession of alternating columns in square, circular and polygonal shapes.

The church was originally without vaults (they date from 1696) and the current, large windows. The roof was held up by visible beams or the coffered ceiling and light used to pass discretely through the high, narrow, vaulted windows that are double recessed. The groin vaulted arch that overhangs the altar is fake, although rather old. The triumphant arch, probably in the XIII century, restricted the absidal area due to its framework and considerably reduced the area of the underneath crypt, a mystical with three small naves, each with three arches whose small, stone columns support capitals dating from the VIII century.

The oldest frescoes in the church are those in the north absidioles, by Iacopo Jacquerio (or his school), dated 1416. Also in the XV century Giacomino of Ivrea painted the triumphant arch with a cycle of doctors of the church, saints and prophets. Decorations were added over these paintings, which were dull and plastered, by Filippo da Varallo towards the end of the XVI century and are still visible today (partly, thanks to restorations in the Seventies), once covering the entire presbytery basin.

Christ on the Cross in the presbytery is a bronze work of art by Luciano Minguzzi.

With the new museum layout, the visitor is guided through a path to discover the symbolic places of local religiosity, such as the parish church and the numerous village chapels, from which the art objects on display come from, witnesses of faith and local popular devotion.
You can admire wooden sculptures and other works of art ranging from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, such as the splendid goldsmiths.

The Museum aims to collect, classify and make known the minerals of the Aosta Valley and a number of crystals and semi-precious stones from around the world.
It currently has about 750 pieces on display, most of which come from the mountains near Saint-Vincent, in particular from Mount Barbeston, from Emarèse, from Brusson and Champorcher, all sites known to be rich in minerals.
The rarest and most beautiful pieces come from gold, iron and magnetite mines, now abandoned.
The museum also has a collection of about 170 fossils.