Heritage: Gressoney-La-Trinité

The chapel of Bie
The chapel of Biel dates back to 1636 and originally bore the name of Our Lady of the Snows while today it is dedicated to Saints Rocco and Sebastiano, celebrated on August 16th. This chapel is located along the trail that connects the center of Gressoney-La-Trinitè with the hamlet of Staffal, along path no. 9. It can also be reached from the regional road, turning left immediately after leaving the village of Selbsteg.
From the chapel you can enjoy an incredible view of Monte Rosa.

The chapel of Orsia
The chapel of Orsia is located on the ancient path (no. 6) that connected Orsia with Alpe Gabiet. This pretty white chapel dates back to 1652 and is dedicated to Saint James the Greater, celebrated on July 25th.
In summer, in front of the chapel, an expanse of purple lupins makes it even more picturesque.

The chapel of Sant’Anna
The chapel of Sant’Anna, built in 1726, is located at an altitude of 2178 meters on the cliffs leading to Colle di Bettaforca, in a place that offers an extensive panorama. It can be reached on foot via path no. 9 in about 2 hours or, when the cable cars are open, in 5 minutes on foot.
The entire community has heartfelt feelings for the feast of the Chapel of Sant’Anna and they gather there to participate in the Holy Mass on July 26th. A plaque commemorates the visit of Pope John Wojtyla who in 2001 visited the chapel and was enchanted by the views of the impressive mountains that surround this small white chapel at the foot of Monte Rosa.

The chapel of Stafal - Oagre
The chapel of Oagre was founded in 1776 by the Gressonard G.J. Curtaz, parish priest of Issime, in memory of his mother Caterina Knobal and the vision she had on February 11th, 1701 at the nearby fountain.
It is said that she saw an image of the Madonna with the Child in her arms painted in beautiful bright colors on the ice that covered the fountain. J.P. Schwarz, the parish priest of Gressoney-La-Trinité gave evidence on her behalf.
The Chapel, which took the name of the Madonna delle Nevi (Madonna of the Snows), has become, for Gressoney, a center of Marian devotion, a destination for pilgrimages, with some evidence of the graces received. The Feast of the Madonna of the Snows is celebrated on August 5th.

The chapel of Underwoald
The chapel of Underwoald is located inside the town; it is a picturesque chapel structured for transit. It is called “dei Morti” (“Of the Dead” - “Tototschappolo”, in titsch, the German dialect of Gressoney), since its only function still today is to receive funeral processions coming from the various hamlets of the village and heading towards the parish church. The chapel is open and the visitor can admire its frescoes.

Since its foundation in 1702, the church has been dedicated to the Holy Trinity, but its patron is Saint Francis Xavier, given that it could not be attributed the patronal title of the Three Divine Persons.

Interesting details:

• the main altar, contemporary to the church, in Baroque style with a few elements that are reminiscent of the Renaissance, made of gilded and painted wood, it was saved from a fire around the mid 1800’s

• the circular tabernacle dating back to 1704

• the silver and gold plated copper ornamental lamp, dating back to 1695.

In 1975 a serious theft was perpetrated in the church; some purloined items have been replaced by works realized by the sculptor Siro Viérin, while other objects have been brought from the local chapels, such as the two statues positioned on the altar dedicated to Saint Joseph, originating from the chapel of Tschaval.

The belltower, which is contemporary to the church, rises up for approximately 30 metres. The spire, with wooden structure covered in galvanized iron, dates back to 1819 and has an unusual onion shape, surmounted by a copper bowl and a cross. It was originally fitted with three bells, to which a further three were added in 1933. The entire bell ring, renewed and inaugurated in 1992, with its twelve bells is the most complete in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The oldest bell belonging to the ancient ring is exposed in the village’s main square.

Adjacent to the church, the cemetery is noteworthy due to its age and the quality of the handmade stone tablets, work of local sculptors and stone-cutters but especially due to the beautiful stone cross that is set upon it, which was erected by the reverent parish priest Valentino L. De La Pierre in 1722.

Not always, in the past, have the glaciers blocked the upper hills of the Monte Rosa massif: numerous legends tell of pastures, cultivated fields and fields now covered with perennial snow and ice. Amongst the legends there’s the one on the city of Felik, that rose to the right of the morainic hills of today’s Lys Glacier, at the head of Valle di Gressoney. The city, favored by trade with nearby Vallese, had a very prosperous business that made its inhabitants forget about God: they were therefore punished by the heavens with a very long winter, burying them under the snow for ever. Still today it is said that the souls of its inhabitants wander about the glaciers of Monte Rosa searching for eternal salvation.

The Ecomuseum is made up of three buildings that lead visitors on a voyage of discovery through the Walser culture:

Country House - Puròhus
Typical house from the 18th century, with the authentic atmosphere of a Walser home, featuring the “wohngade”, which was the very heart of the working activity of the inhabitants, with one part used as a shelter for the animals and the other for the family. The two parts were separated by a wooden partition. This coexistence between man and animals was designed to make the most of the heat generated by the latter. Visitors can also see the fine vaulted cellar and the hayloft, with a range of tools used for traditional trades.

House Museum - Pòtzschhus

In the rooms of this ‘stadel’, the dialect name for the typical Walser house, permanent exhibitions dedicated to the local area are held. The Monte Rosa room tells about the evolution of the glaciers over time, the peaks conquest and its protagonists, technical developments in the history of mountaineering and the fascinating story of how the large bronze ‘Cristo delle Vette’ statue was placed on the Rosa glacier, at 4170 m. Another section is dedicated to the history and work of the ‘Angelo Mosso Institute’ and ‘Regina Margherita’ science laboratories (the latter is set up in the refuge of the same name, the highest in Europe, at 4554 m), the sites of the first studies of the effects of altitude on man. An area is also dedicated to the Krämertal - the Valley of the Walser Merchants. The room on the first floor, also home to the Office Régional du Tourisme Tourist Office, hosts an exhibition on the history of the traditional local costume, famous for its beauty and elegance.

Binò Alpelté hut

This is the third building of the Ecomuseum, consisting of a small house in the hamlet of Binò that was once used, from June to the end of September, for the exploitation of the pastures located close to the village. It consists of two adjoining buildings, built under the shelter of a single natural boulder, the ‘balma’, which acts as a roof and protects them from avalanches and falling stones, to which the area is exposed during winter and spring. The largest space was used for the night shelter of about twenty animals, including milking cows and calves, while the other one was used for milk processing. Open only during the summer period according to availability, but it can also be reached independently by following path no. 15.

Dopo il Natale fervono i preparativi per festeggiare l’arrivo del Capodanno (Nujoahr).
In ogni casa si preparano i “chiechene”, dolci tradizionali (vedere ricette), che si offrono a coloro che vengono ad augurare buon anno.
E’ tradizione che il 31 dicembre in chiesa, durante la funzione religiosa di fine anno, i fedeli cantano tutti assieme il “Nujoahrslied”: il canto augurale del buon anno.
Ma altre tradizioni, tipicamente walser, di buon augurio per l’anno nuovo, vengono tutt’ora mantenute:
durante la notte di San Silvestro gruppi di cantori, di ogni età, passano di casa in casa, di amici e conoscenti, cantando il “Nujoahrslied”; invece il primo giorno dell’anno sono i bambini del paese che vanno ad augurare il buon anno ad amici e parenti, ricambiati da questi, come da usanza, con la strenna.

In addition to a particular lifestyle, Walser brought their language too. It is a variant of the Alemannian dialect, the most ancient stock among the German dialect groups.
This dialect is still spoken by the local population: it is taught in schools to young kids, but the Walser Cultural Centre also organises Titsch courses periodically, open to everybody, no matter their language level.

The Valle del Lys, like other mountain valleys that surround the Monte Rosa, was populated, up until the Middel Ages, by a population of Germanic origins coming from the Upper Vallese:the Walser.This population, beginning from the middle of the XIII century, crossed the mountain passes such as the colle Teodulo (3317 meters) and the Monte Moro (2984 meters) to create little stable settlements on the head of the valleys that from south to east surround the Monte Rosa massif.Very much tied to their traditions and to the “titsch” language, the families, specialized in fabric trade, emigrated to Europe for centuries, specially in Breisgau (Freiburg area) and in northern Switzerland, always keeping strong ties with their birthplace:Gressoney.

An architectural trace of their widespread travels can be seen by the “stadel”, rural buildings that lean on mushroom shaped columns with the stalk made of wood and the cap made of a big stone disc (known as “musblatte” in the Walser dialect), that was used to isolate the hayloft from humidity and rodents.These are huge buildings made of squared larch trunks which are piled one on top of the other and joined together at the corners by criss-crossed joints (mis-bois), built on a concrete foundation that holds the barn, once used as a home during the winter, the cellars and a hallway with a staircase that leads to the comfortable rooms.The stadel are located on the banks of the Lys river, away from avalanches and make up small family villages; these houses line, here and there, villages with other homes and villas and were built by merchants that made their fortunes in the XVIII and XIX centuries.

There are numerous villages were you can still see these age-old buildings:

Gressoney-La-Trinité:
- from the chief town of Gressoney-La-Trinité, a sweet sloping path leads, in about an hour, to the villages of Alpenzu.Located on a glacial terrace, on the great Walser path that leads to Val d’Ayas, beyond Colle Pinter, the 2 villages are examples of well preserved architectural tradition.The path has a wonderful view:it dominates the entire Valle del Lys and perches on the magical backdrop of the Monte Rosa glacier.

Gressoney-Saint-Jean:
- in Noversch, different stadel, built by the Zumstein family, are structural models
- the stadel located at Eckò are also particularly valuable, built in the XVII century by the Lischtgi
- Greschmattò:you can find the oldest house built in the flat area of Gressoney-Saint Jean, that dates back to 1547, once used as a courthouse and prison.Also worth seeing is the “Groalémgsch hus”, the tax collector’s house (1626) and “Schribehus” the clerk’s house (1806).
- Tschalvrinò:vast area filled with woods, cottages, stadel and hunting homes of the Beck Peccoz barons. You can reach it by taking the new road from Obre Biel.To the south (at 1772 meters) you can find one of the olderst Walser villages.Continuing by foot you will find other two stadel that date back to 1547 and 1578, leaning on characteristic mushrooms.
- Loomattò: typical hamlet at the foot of the Loo valley with a group of houses dating back to 1689, 1699, 1773.
- Trebelsch Hus:in the Tschòssil area there are a group of three homes, one of which has the date 1686 on the main beam. You can still find a rare oven used for baking bread, leaning on a block that acts as a support.
- Obre Chaschtal:age-old group of 7 buildings, all very characteristic, built from 1580 to 1710
- Perletoa:once a self-sufficient hamlet with age-old homes dating back to 1663, 1692, 1697, 1702, 1707, 1714, 1729
- Drésal:group of stone and wood homes of which the oldest dates back to 1587 with a small adjacent stone building containing the well and hamlet oven.

In the Gaby territory there are 37 “granir”, better known as “stadel”. Even in the territory of Issime, in the San Grato valley, you can admire numerous stadel.

The Gressoney folk group – Greschoney Trachtengruppe was founded in 1957, with the aim of promoting the heritage of folk dances and songs in German and Titsch, and is currently made up of a group of children, one of adults and some musicians. It performs special dances from the Walser tradition and has received several prizes and awards.

The folk group is known both in Italy and abroad for its ancient and characteristic costume, renowned above all for its precious women's cap embroidered entirely in gold filigree and, together with the Walser Cultural Centre, is the official body that safeguards the tradition of these precious women's and men's costumes – the men's costume was created when the group was founded.

The group participates in national and international events, including the Walsertreffen, the great Walser gathering, and takes part to some summer events held in Gressoney. Since the 1990s, the folk group has been organising the Beer Festival, on the occasion of the celebrations for the patron saint of Gressoney-Saint-Jean: the festival recalls the most beautiful Germanic traditions with Kühbacher beer, which is brought every year directly from Munich by the brewery of the Beck Peccoz barons, native of Gressoney. The entire village is involved in the organisation of the event, and it has become one of the most renowned beer festivals in Italy.

The traditional costume of Gressoney is among the most beautiful in the Aosta Valley.

In ancient times Gressoney’s women were used to wearing their traditional costume every day, even when they were working. Of course, it was not so elegant and so richly decorated as today’s costume. On the contrary, it was shorter and plain.
In the course of times Gressoney’s inhabitants began to wear other clothes, so that the beautiful costume with its valuable bonnet, made of filigree and precious stones, became the best clothe, which was only used for fests and special occasions.
Besides the scarlet costume with golden ornaments, there is a so-called violet “mourning costume” with silver decorations.