Heritage: Avise, La Salle, Morgex

Along the national road n. 26, in the proximity the village ofAvise, where nowdays stands a tunnel, the ancient Roman road of Gauls had to deal with a fearful bottleneck, which Roman engineering got around by cutting through the rock: it is the bottleneck of “Pierre Taillée”.

The area was also suitable for military surveillance, and this is why, above the tunnel, it is still possible to observe the remains of the fortifications which played a significant role during the French invasions of 1691 and 1704-1706.

Getting to Avise, the first building on the village’s left side, consisting in a three-storey construction with a square tower on its side is the Avise castle, built towards the end of the 15th century by Bonifacio or by Rodolfo d’Avise.

The tower’s machicolation embellishment is of particular interest, as well as the beautiful series of double ogee windows to be observed on the south side.

The monument hosts nowdays an accommodation facility with restaurant.

Near the parish church, you cannot miss the castle complex, consisting of a square tower (12th century) and a more recent main building (15th century) with exquisite cross windows.
The castle was once the residence of the powerful D’Avise family and only in 1645 did it go to the de Blonay brothers, who changed its name. The ancient towers was known as “des Prisons”: in 1787 the nobleman Philip de Blonay claimed joint rights with other lords in Avise to imprison wrong-doers. The tower was sold to local families by the Bianco family of San Secondo, while the annexed building was taken away from the Blonay.

As you come out of the municipal seat, on the edge of a promontory you find this partly destroyed fortified manor house.
Probably built in the 10th century, it is said that it belonged to Pierre d’Avise, vice-administrator of Aosta in 1425. In the second half of the century it was sold to Bonifacio Ducrest of Savoy, a ducal official.
The Ducrest family died out at the start of the 18th century.

Situated in the chief town, the building was erected on the foundations of another older, low, irregular and small one, which was entirely demolished. According to tradition, the parish church once stood between Runaz and Pierre Taillée, on the Roman road. When this church, dedicated to Saint Martin, was destroyed, along with the entire village of Runaz, by the armies who came through here around the 9th-10th century, it is said to have been rebuilt on the other side of the Dora, less exposed to military incursions and dedicated to Saint Brice, the disciple and successor of Saint Martin. In the year 1400, thanks to two benefactors (uncle and nephew) who were both called Antoine d’Avise, the belltower of the parish church was built by the Maestro Pierre Sella.

The chapel is located within the hamlet of Cerellaz, at a short distance from the municipality of Saint Nicolas.
Inside the eighteenth century building there is a large canvas showing the Descent from the Cross. Apart from two bishops, the saints Roch, Barbara and Gratus are also shown.

This fortified house was built by the D’Avise family close to the Gaul roman road in the village of Runaz. At the end of the 15th century Jean le Jeune, lord of Runaz, transformed the building into a residence, whose beautiful widows in late-gothic style, dating back to the 16th century are still admirable. Also worthy to see is the main entrance door.

The structure, which hosts ethnographic and historical exhibitions, is also the seat of the Association Valdôtaine des Archives Sonores who is responsible of its management.

The museum, situated in the first side chapel on the right of the Saint Brice parish church, hosts different sacred works coming both from the same church and from the chapels of the villages Vedun, Charbonnière, Cerellaz and Runaz.
The statues and sacred objects exposed cover a period of time going from 15th to 19th century: moreover, it is possible to admire an important series of goldsmith’s crafts and a textile manufacture probably created in an italian workshop active at half of the 18th century.

The renovations of the entire village of Fenêtre a La Salle (2000) represents a singular architectural entity, based on the reinterpretation and renewal of rural architecture with the creation of unexpected common rooms. The large panoramic openings that create gaps in the stone walls, the differently styled balconies, the Medieval reconstruction of the jambs and arches and highly irregular lose covering are of great interest.

The municipal building (maison communale) is the starting point of a brief tour that leads to the discovery of some very interesting points of the local architecture.Extremely well restored by the Engineer Jaccod, the “maison Gerbollier” today holds La Salle’s administrative offices.It is an age-old noble home of the Viard family, made up of different buildings surrounding an internal courtyard, where you can enter from the sourthern part, through a magnificent stone cut doorway.Some of the doors and windows inside the building have shapes that recall the splendors of this XVI century building, whilst the beams of the buildings show how this rural complex saw many strong transformations during 1713 and 1819. Following the road towards east you go up towards the village of Ecours.On the square, the chapel is embellished by frescoes representing the Visitation of the Virgin and a huge St. Cristophe (St. Christopher); placed on the side is a fountain and the chapel is located between a series of age-old rural homes, grouped one against each other with the dominating part of the medievel square tower, built by the De Curiis nobles who gave the name of the village.The tower is the heart of a great barn that still today works.In the valley on the mountainside of Ecours,a windmill once used the waters of the “ru” (irrigation canal) of Moyes, accessible through a shaded path that starts from Prarion, heading towards Moyes.

Located in the hamlet of Echarlod, it once belonged to the Aragon, a noble family of the 16th century.
As attested by the date inscribed on the side of the door, it was built in 1608, probably by Philibert of Aragon, who later had the misfortune of losing five children during the 1630 plague. His family died out shortly after this tragic event.
The house has a series of beautiful worked stone windows.
The entrance is on the western side, overlooked by a machicolation.

Located just after the hamlet of Le Pont, at the beginning of the old paved road which started from the SS 26 road and led to the municipal seat of La Salle. Despite being reworked, this fortified house is still an interesting site.

It is a rather large, four-sided building, with two slight projections on the side, originally for defence purposes. It still has 15th-century windows that are partly buffered. The entrance was placed on the north, with architrave decorated with a keel-shaped design, and the building body overhanging it (a loophole can still be seen next to the stone window). This ancient dwelling was damaged by the French during the invasion of June 1691.

Possession of the Bovet noblefamily,who lived from the 13th century to the start of the 16th, together with other property of the family, the fortified house was inherited, through marriage, by the Passorio.

On the wide fan of La Salle, in the village of Château, stands Châtelard castle, built, according to the historian Jean-Baptiste De Tillier, by Rudolph Grossi, bishop of Aosta in 1243 and archbishop of Tarantasia in 1246. It is first mentioned in a document from 1248, and presents the type of circular tower reminiscent of the fortified constructions of Count Peter II of Savoy, to whom Grossi was a close advisor.
All around, mediaeval dwellings of all shapes and sizes dot the land like small sentries with an ancient charm: the Pascal fortified house, the Aragon fortified Manor house, Maison Gerbollier, just above, the home of the Ecours and again, in the village of Derby, the notarial castle.

The castle stands isolated at theend of the road that crosses the entire length of village of Derby.
It is currently used as a farm, although we know that the underground served as a prison in ancient times.
It is still possible to see beautiful windows in worked stone, as well as the remains of the perimeter wall and a corner tower provided with loopholes on the east side.
The castle was apparently used a judicial seat, although it is not known whether this was of Sant’Orso or the Cathedral.

A complex of different buildings, none dating to before the 16th century, partly transformed for agricultural use.

The massive residential sector displays doors and windows with architraves with the characteristic reversed keel motif. There is an ancient external bread oven (restored in 1970).

There are no historical data, but the name seems to recall the inhabitancy of a notary. It is probably the home of the Lachenal, nobles who lived between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Four-sided fortified house with beautiful windows in worked stone, its construction is believed to date back to 1560.

De Tillier, a Valdostan historian of the 18th century, says that the cathedral chapter and the chapter of Sant’ Orso, who shared the territory of Derby, each had its own fortified household. It appears that being unable to apply justice there themselves, the canons of Sant’Orso engaged Giacomino d’Avise to do it in 1352.

Located north of the municipal seat, on the road that goes up to the hill villages, this massive square tower is what remains of the 13th century’s fabric, together with a short section of the ancient perimeter wall.
The building, during the Middle Ages possession of the Lescours (de Curiis) family, one of the best known in Valdigne, was enfeoffed for an half to the Chatelard nobles already in 1430.
In 1551 the castle went to the Bozel family in 1551 and later, always during XVIth century, it was transferred to the Gal and Malliet families jointly.
The fiefdom was reunited in the following century by the Passerin, who still owned it in 1730.

The tower stands west of the burg of La Salle, next to beautiful farmhouse from the first half of the last century.

The tower has no style elements that allow us to date its construction.
There are no historical data. Its imposing structure and the presence of loopholes have made it identified as a tower and dated between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Mont Blanc can be appreciated in the background.

Dated 1636, it is dedicated to Saint Bernard (celebrated on 15 June). The facade is frescoed entirely with the figures of the saints Bernard, Anthony the Great, Cassian, Cristopher and Gratus. The coat of arms of the Savoy household also appears on the facade. The chapel was the object of recent restoration work.

Dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, it is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 1330. The facade is completely frescoed with images of Saint Christopher holding the Infant Jesus and Saint John the Baptist and the adoration of the three wise Kings. Inside the chapel there is the wooden separation grille and an altarpiece of the Madonna of Oropa.

It dates back to 1671 and is dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalen (feast day 22 July). The facade, which is in quite a poor state of repair, is decorated by large frescoes representing the Virgin with Child, Mary Magdalen, a warrior and Saint Christopher. The wooden separation grate is still visible on the inside.

The foundation date of the chapel dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalen (celebrated on July 22) is not known, but it already existed in 1436, as evidenced by the report of the archdeacon visit of that year. The current building was renovated in 1671 as indicated by the date engraved on the roof beam and again in 1985.

The structure has a small bell tower with two bells. The ogival shape of the door is noteworthy. The wooden separation grate is still visible on the inside.

The facade, rather ruined, is decorated with four scenes, three of which are arranged on the same level, above the entrance door. They are attributed to Giacomino da Ivrea who made them between 1440 and 1450. They depict Saint George and the princess (left panel), the Virgin and Child and Saint Christopher (right panel). Higher up is instead depicted the Magdalene, a fresco that dates back to 1619.

Dated 1621, its facade (unfortunately in very poor condition) is completely frescoed with a representation of the Universal Judgement, it is dedicated to Saint Leonard - celebrated on the 6th of November - and to Saint Gratus. The bell tower has two bells: one was used to call the faithful, the other one was used to remind children about the start of school.

The first documents relative to this church are the deeds of the pastoral visits of 1413 and 1416, but it may obviously be older than this. There are no remaining traces of the fifteenth century building, given that the church was rebuilt entirely in 1846, to then be re-consecrated in 1847. The bell tower in the lower part should date back to the 15th-16th century, while the upper part is from 1710.

The church, with three naves, is divided into four bays, it houses one of the most beautiful organs in Valle d’Aosta and has a permanent museum of sacred art in which numerous objects of noteworthy historical-artistic value are kept:
- a Madonna from the late thirteenth century (similar to that of Valsavarenche, Introd and Arvier)
- a Madonna from the early years of the 14th century (on a model of the famous Black Madonna of the Shrine of Oropa)
- a Crucifix from the early fifteenth century (inspired by the triumphal one from the Cathedral of Aosta)
- a silver cross from the early 15th century
- two miniature statues showing the Magdalen and Saint John the Evangelist, one of the most beautiful and graceful examples of Flemish art created in Malines between the 15th and 16th century and exported to all over Europe.

The primitive church of the village of Derby most likely dates back to the 11th / 12th century, while the belltower is said to date back to the 13th century. The current church has been erected in the 16th century and consecrated by Monsignor Ferragata, bishop of Aosta, on the 22nd of July 1567.

The church of Derby has a rectangular plan with a single nave, with pointed arches of the vault, cross vaults with tuff ribs, a semicircular apse on the outside and a polygonal apse on the inside with an umbrella vault with ribs. Of the previous church remain the perimeter walls and a small cross-shaped window, high up on the facade, which served to illuminate the trussed roof of the Romanesque building.
The high altar, in polychrome marble, dates back to the 17th century. Above it, statues of St Hilary and St Blaise (16th century). A large wooden crucifix from the 16th century overlooks the choir.
The stone baptismal font from 1688, to the left of the entrance, bears the coat of arms of the Savoy family.
In 1861 the current organ (G. Franzetti, with mechanical traction and broken registers) was installed.

Inside, some liturgical objects are kept in a display case, including a 15th-century silver foil reliquary.

Le groupe folklororique “Les Sallereins” naît en 1968 avec le but de conserver et diffuser les anciennes traditions du village de La Salle.
Le groupe réunit garçons et filles en costume typique, qui ont repris d’anciennes danses populaires évoquant la vie quotidienne: signalons, notamment, le ballet des vignerons, très rythmé et spectaculaire, tout à fait adapté à cette zone réputée pour ses vignobles. Le groupe anime tous les rendez-vous les plus importants et traditionnels du village et réjouit les moments de fête soit à La Salle, soit dans le reste de l’Italie et à l’étranger.

The “L’Homme et la Pente” ethnographic museum is the heart of the valorisation project of the rural heritage of La Salle.
The museum holds equipment used in agriculture and family life, particularly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

On January 23rd, 2012 Carlo Plassier left through a testamentary legacy his house, including furniture and works of art, at the La Salle Municipality, on condition that it would have been open to the public in the future.

The collection is the result of a sixty-years-old tableaumanie : “Carletto” bought in auctions, flea markets or by junk dealers and let every painting scrupulously restored. Moreover he became friendly with different artists of the Seventies and Eighties, famous as well as totally unknown, who he invited in his hotel and whom he offered the stay in exchange for pictures painted on place.

Ogni anno il santo patrono si festeggia nei comuni e nei villaggi della Valdigne con una manifestazione particolare, la “Badoche”, le cui origini paiono risalire ai riti propiziatori celebrati presso i Celti.

La tradizione vuole che la Badoche sia nata a La Salle, per poi diffondersi anche nelle altre località.
Protagonisti della festa sono i giovani scapoli che organizzano un ballo collettivo sulla piazza del paese. Alcuni giorni prima, i giovani della Badoche si riuniscono e designano il “capo badocher”, il quale insieme con la sua compagna, la “badochère”, dirigerà la festa.
Alla vigilia la coppia, nei vestiti tradizionali, guida di casa in casa il piccolo corteo accompagnato dai suonatori di fisarmonica, per annunciare l’evento e raccogliere offerte che aiutino a sostenere le spese per la festa. L’insegna del “badocher” è la cosiddetta “alabarda”, un bastone a tre punte coronato di fiori e ornato di nastri di seta multicolori, mentre per la questua si presenta un piatto, anch’esso decorato da fiori e nastri, pieno di dolciumi e di sigarette da offrire in cambio dell’obolo.

Nella piazza dove avrà luogo il ballo vengono issati otto pini abbattuti qualche giorno prima dai “badochers”.

Il giorno della festa patronale l’allegra brigata della “Badoche” e i suonatori fanno il loro ingresso nella piazza all’uscita della messa: le danze sono aperte dal “capo badocher” e dalla sua compagna, che successivamente inviteranno gli altri “badochers”, le autorità, le coppie di giovani provenienti dai villaggi vicini, i coscritti e ogni categoria di persone e di lavoratori, secondo una consuetudine tramandata dalla tradizione orale.
Il gran ballo riprende nel pomeriggio, accompagnato da generose mescite di vino, e si conclude a sera tarda.
Il gruppo folkloristico “Les Sallereins” raccoglie nel suo repertorio le danze tradizionali della “Badoche” di La Salle.
La “Badoche” è una tradizione che si festeggia anche a Morgex nel giorno dell’Assunzione (15 agosto), a La Thuile alla Traslazione delle reliquie di San Nicola (9 maggio), a Pré-Saint-Didier a San Lorenzo (10 agosto) e in alcune frazioni di questi paesi della Valdigne.

The Aosta/Pré-Saint-Didier railway, completed in 1929 with 8 stations and 23 stops, is a a singular and unique architectural situation. This railway was founded to transport coal to Aosta mined in La Thuile and moved to Morgex by cableway. From here the railway was extended to Pré-Saint-Didier in the vain hope of reaching Courmayeur.

The Morgex station is the best expression of this architecture. The choice of details, from the lancet windows to fireplaces, dark-red painted wood lining, massive stone walls and complex wood shelves are inserted in a seemingly simple context. The prism base is divided, on the track side, by a platform supported by five slightly tapered cylindrical columns and, on the opposite side, by two light stone foreparts on a wooden background. A similar altimetrical division reflects this layout with spacious porticoes on the ground floor to create adequate covered areas.

The other stations on the Aosta/Pré-Saint-Didier railway are characterised by large cylindric columns, long support beams with robust wooden overhangings and wood lining which successfully fit into the context, reflecting the forms of the historic l’Ola farmhouse in Introd. More than an expression of foreign culture and technology, the new buildings, following the nearby architectural examples even though rural, intended to express the close tie with the local land and culture. Overall, it is an interesting “system” of buildings, erected to meet the same functions with homogeneous architectural styles.

This fortified house standing in an isolated area, east of the village of Villair, is a rectangular floor plan building with two floors above ground.
The entrance is on the second floor on the south side: next to the door of the underground floor is inscribed the date 1751. Two overhanging and almost overlapping latrines are on the east side.
The house belonged to the Bozel (de Bosellis) family, aborigine from Tarentaise, settled in Aosta Valley in the 14th century and dead out in the 17th century.

Located in the centre of the village, this tower, with its walls 9 metres lenght and 2,60 metres thick, reminds in its construction technique of the towers of La Plantà in Gressan and Ville in Arnad.
The dendrometric analyses prove that it was built during the last years of the 10th century, that’s why it results to be one of the oldest towers in Aosta Valley.

It is incorporated into a lower and larger building, which is also square and presents mediaeval masonry and a beautiful portal on the north side, whose architrave is sculpted with a double-row, inverted-keel design. Over the portal stands a small window of worked stone with architrave bearing the Savoy cross.
The origins of the name of the de l’Archet (de Arculo) family derive from having converted the Aosta Arch of Augustus into its residence. These nobles already appear in Aosta Valley charters of the first half of the 12th century. The circumstances of their transfer to Valdigne are unknown, while it’s sure that their castle in Morgex hosted the count of Savoy during the General Audiences,when his direct subjects came there to give him feudal homage.

The tower houses the Pro Loco and the Morgex information office on the ground floor, as well as an exhibition space where temporary exhibitions are set up.

The other rooms of the castle are the headquarters of the Natalino Sapegno Foundation, responsible for studies and research in the humanities. One wing of the Tour de l'Archet houses the Demetrio Mafrica Comics Library-Museum; in two other rooms, the study of the writer and poet Sergio Solmi (whose library is conserved in Morgex) and an early 20th-century schoolroom have been reconstructed, respectively.

During the summer and Christmas periods, the Sapegno Foundation opens the Comics Library-Museum and organizes guided tours of the castle and its library. In the other months it is possible to organize visits for groups and schools by making a reservation at the offices of the Foundation.

Located west of the hamlet of La Ruine, not far from the stream, it is a complex of buildings forming a castle. The oldest building stands on the east side, in the form of a tower-house. It has windows in worked stone, with architraves bearing a particular arch design.
The historian De Tillier wrote that this building was built by Giovanni Pascal de la Ruine, who already featured as a notary from 1450. In fact the central body of the building, with windows similar to those of the tower, has a beautiful lock with a stork’s head design, dating back to 1457.

Considering the title “plébain”, which is traditionally attributed to the parish priest, it is believed that the parish of Morgex is one of the oldest of the upper Aosta Valley. This hypothesis was confirmed by the archaeological digs which brought to light the remains of the ancient early-Christian baptismal church (5th-6th century), while the church of Morgex was mentioned for the first time in the papal bull of Alexander III in 1176.

The medieval church was readjusted on several occasions, until it was given its current appearance with the restoration and extension campaign that got underway in 1687, at the end of which, in 1705, Monsignor d’Arvillars consecrated the building.

The interior decoration is the fruit of the interventions of the Savyoard painter Girollet as far as the vaults of the apsidal area are concerned (18th century), while the other works are due to the painter Lancia, who was active during the first half of the 20th century.
Of particular historical and artistic value is the wooden crucifix dating back to the end of the fourteenth century which dominates the central nave.

All that remains of the ancient decoration of the church is a Last Supper on the left hand side of the central nave, it is dated 1559 and the interesting frescos of the fifteenth century chapel at the bottom of the left hand nave. The main altar is noteworthy, with its rich frieze and gilding, dating back to the beginning of the eighteenth century, although the central painting of the Assumption of Mary was replaced with a painting by Lancia after that a fire destroyed the original one in 1931.

The Biblio-Museum was born thanks to the donation, in 2005, of a precious collection of comic books (over 30,000) and volumes, collected by Demetrio Mafrica, which allows to follow the birth and evolution of comics, especially Italian, and which is considered one of the richest of its kind in Italy.

The Biblio-Museum has been set up by the Natalino Sapegno Onlus Foundation to raise awareness of the rich and varied comic book universe.
A chronological itinerary guides the visitor and the user within the Mafrica Collection: open to enthusiasts and beginners it is suitable for visitors of all ages.

It is situated beneath the left aisle of the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta and has interesting works of sacred art, including a silver relic chest from the 15th century, various astylar crosses and a chalice and paten found in the sepulchre of the Blessed Vuillerme de Léaval, who was parish priest of Morgex.