Heritage: Donnas, Fontainemore, Perloz, ** Valle d'Aosta **

Su tutto il territorio della Valle d’Aosta gli abitanti parlano abitualmente il “patois”, un dialetto francoprovenzale. Esso presenta terminologie e cadenze che variano da Comune a Comune in conseguenza delle influenze francesi, vallesane, walser e piemontesi subite nel corso dei secoli. Il vocalismo della parlata è di tipo provenzale ed il consonantismo è di tipo francese. Le affinità maggiori sono riscontrabili nei dialetti
parlati nelle regioni francesi della Savoia e della Provenza, e nella Svizzera Romanda. Verrès è l’unico dei Comuni in cui non si parla il patois, ma per i suoi contatti con il vicino Canavese, gli abitanti parlano tra di loro il dialetto piemontese. Da alcuni decenni si cerca di mantenere vivo e valorizzare il patois.

The Gauls consular road, built by the Romans to link Rome to the Rodano Valley, has one of its most characteristic points in the Donnas section, which is dug into the live rock over a length of 221 metres.

The dimensions of the excavation are highlighted by the rocky headland that has been left, within which an arch has been dug out: it measures 4 metres in width, 4 metres in height and the distance between the two jambs is almost three metres: during the Middle Ages it was used as the gateway to the Suburb, which was closed during the night.

On the pavement of the road you can still see the furrows left by the carriages, while a little beyond the arch there is milestone on which the number 36 represents the distance between Donnas and Aosta in miles (approximately 50 km).

Following the path of an ancient tradition, the "Lou Dzeut" Cooperative in Champorcher — now also present in Donnas — carries on the art of hand-weaving hemp fabric, creating and embroidering linens and handcrafted items that embody a rich history and solid heritage, synonymous with uniqueness and quality. The name "Lou Dzeut" is no coincidence: in the local patois, it means both "swarm," symbolizing collective work and collaboration, and "sprout," as a promise of future growth.

The manual labor on old-fashioned wooden looms, where the hands and feet of the weavers move arrhythmically, harks back to a bygone era. It’s a demanding and challenging task, but also captivating, where quality takes precedence over quantity. The weavers, along with the sewing master, embroiderers, and lacemakers, continue to produce hemp and linen fabrics, creating unique, personalized items for the home and linens.

In the atelier, high-quality pieces are crafted that honor tradition, yet evolve with a keen eye on contemporary needs. Custom-made shirts and vests can also be ordered, crafted from the fabric produced on-site.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays) from 9.00am to 12.00pm and 2.00pm to 5.00pm

It is the first tower that can be seen by entering the Aosta Valley, and it dates back to the 13th century.
Situated at about thirty minutes walk from the hamlet of Pramotton, on the right orographic bank of the Dora Baltea, the tower is hexagonal and is decorated with six merlons corresponding the edges.
The entrance is placed at four meters above the ground and it is still possible to see the perimeter wall that originally surrounded the tower.

The Albard chapel is located near the village of the same name in the municipality of Donnas, at 613 meters above sea level, overlooking the fort and the village of Bard, and is dedicated to the translation of the relics of San Grato.

The facade is dated 1756 and is frescoed with the scene of the deposition of the Holy Cross under a glory of angels.

In the Verale pasture, at 1215 meters above sea level, stands the chapel dedicated to the transfiguration of Our Lord, founded in 1753. In the village you can also see the community oven used for baking bread.

In the past, the faithful went in procession to the nearby sanctuary of Machaby on 5 August for the feast of the Madonna delle Nevi and, on their return, the following day, they stopped in Verale to celebrate the Transfiguration. Today the celebration takes place on the second Saturday of August.

The parish church is located at the centre of the town right next to the train station. It was rebuilt in 1830 on the foundations of the previous one and is a wealth of frescoes with an imposing main altar in XVIII century marble. Important wooden craft work includes the choir loft supported by caryatid heads and the fine Istoriato pulpit, as well as the confessionals, baptistery, choir benches and doors. The square bell-tower was built in more recent times compared to the church, but the base is decorated with an ancient bas-relief from the XIII century depicting St. Peter.

One of the oldest chapels in the Donnas area, it is located west of the medieval village and was allegedly founded to safeguard the houses from the frequent and dangerous floods of the Dora Baltea river. The chapel seems to have already been mentioned in 1176 in a bull of Pope Alexander III.

The lintel of the entrance portal bears the date 1692, the year in which the chapel was rebuilt. The beautiful stone portal is a reduced-scale copy of that of the parish church of Issime (around 1685).
Inside, you can admire a late eighteenth-century pulpit in gilded and polychrome wood on which figures of saints and flower garlands stand out.

The building in the Tréby hamlet of Donnas, which from 1897 until 1980 hosted the activity of the local social dairy has a double historical and cultural interest as it testifies at the same time to the rural past of the village and to the centuries-old presence in Donnas of the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, whose charitable activity has survived almost to the present day.

While the premises used up to thirty years ago as a social dairy preserve nowadays the furnishings and equipment for the delivery of milk and the subsequent dairy processing, as well as the documentation and records relating to the operation of the company itself, in the adjoining room, entirely frescoed , the evidence of the activity of the “Confrèrie du Saint-Esprit” emerges, existing since 1012 as reported on the fresco depicting the Last Supper.
You can admire various paintings attesting the work done by the brotherhood in favour of the community. The duty of the confraternity was in fact to translate faith into works of charity, distribute food to the poor and host the homeless in case of fire. The charitable activity of the confraternity continued for more than a century and a half after its official suppression in 1776.

The act establishing a local dairy at Treby dates back to the 25th July 1897.
Five years later, on the 21st May 1902, the dairy bought the buildings of the Brotherhood of the Holy Ghost, where it remained in activity until 1980, when the association broke up.

The building, given to the Municipality of Donnas in year 2000, has been restored and destined, in 2003, to ethnographic museum, furnished with the same equipment and materials originally used at the dairy.

Most exhibits and equipment are still commonly used nowdays in Donnas. Their origins date far back, with names in “patois” that are often impossible to translate and which evoke a past in which vine-growing was widely practised and deeply rooted in local culture. These simple objects were created by expert hands for use in a vineyard or a cellar.

The museum is housed in the cellar of the ‘‘Anna Caterina Selve’‘ school, built in honour of Mr.Federico Selve’s mother in favour of the population of Donnas.
The elegant building has a linear geometrical structure consisting of a single body on different heights and external horizontal ashlar-style contours.

The cellars have a beautiful vaulted brick ceiling.
Initially used as a deposit, between 1971 and 1976 the rooms housed the Caves Coopératives de Donnas and the first wine in Val d’Aosta with Controlled Denomination of Origin.
In 2003 the cellars were restored by the Municipality of Donnas in order to house the museum.

In addition to tools and objects related to grape harvesting and winemaking there are some touch screens that illustrate the must processing techniques and the local wines.

In the olden days it was the place where the two roads leading to the Lys Valley met, on the right and left bank of the river of the same name. Guillemore and its ravine established the borders between the “Mandement de Vallaise” and the “Mandement di Issime and Gressoney”. The name of Guillemore has several variations: Guymour - Guimor - Guymor - Gueymor.
Considering the fact that it is a strategic place and highly significant from a morphological point of view, it is believed that a part of the toponym is fairly old.

The bridge stands next to the parish Church and was built in Medieval times around 1200. It crosses the Lys river with a single 22 metre long arch.

Fontainemore is proud to be one of the most important active emigration hubs (seasonal) tied to construction. From St. Joseph to St. Barbara, at times even at Christmas, the men of this community left to work as master builders in Savoy, in the Duchy of Aosta and in large cities like Turin, Marseilles, Lyon, Grenoble and even Paris.

The architecture of the houses in their home town commands respect. Traces of love for precise stone cutting and those high 4 or 5 story walls are spread across the more than one hundred farmhouses built on steep slopes, covered with chestnut trees.

Farettaz is one of the best preserved villages made up of various groups of houses joined by well-tended paths. The most interesting is undoubtedly the one where the chapel bell tower dedicated to St. Lawrence is erected. The site’s entrance is decorated by a beautiful fountain, once lined in stone. The basin is fed by a long canal dug in the rock.

Hugging each other, the houses create complex formations separated by covered passageways, terraces, gardens and alleyways that reveal ancient quality architecture whose bowels are permeated by human-engineered indoor and outdoor spaces, rich in the mountain living.
The village community oven has been restored and is still used for some events during which black rye flour bread is kneaded and baked.

An interesting note: an ethnographic mountain museum was opened in the village called “Pra dou Sas”, still in the municipality of Fontainemore. Thanks to its residents, this small town museum introduces the public to daily items displayed in traditional home settings.

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The area of Fontainemore is home to eleven chapels, build by the “macons” (builders) in each village as a symbol of autonomy in each district. The frescoed chapels are Madonna della Neve Chapel in the Niana district, the San Francesco di Sales Chapel in the Pillaz district, San Defendente Chapel in the Chuchal district and Balma oratory on the hill of the same name. The wealthiest and best preserved chapels are those in La Planaz and Kiry.

It was built in 1494 in the place of an old chapel and rebuilt in 1679, after the building was destroyed by a landslide. A Latin inscription which was sculpted in Gothic style characters on the stone of a window, which was once part of the Church and is now inserted into a wall in front of the curia, attributes the construction of the building to the master builder Antonio Goyet of Issime. In 1756, following a flood, the church had to be rebuilt again: the main wooden altar originates from this era.

Interesting details:
- the seventeenth century carved wooden portal, consisting of four panels representing the figures of Saint Gratus, Saint Jucundus, Saint Anthony and Saint Orso and six panels with leaves and flowers;
- the presbytery with a round apse dates back to the 15th century;
- the ribbed vault with stone ribbing covered in limestone and a rose window in the middle containing the coat of arms of the Vallaise family.

The mid mountain ecomuseum is in Pra dou Sas, close to the entrance to the Mont Mars Natural Reserve. It is a beautiful mid-mountain village, whose buildings are used partly as a living museum.
A two-storey stone house has a stable on the lower floor and on the upper floor the room with the fireplace for processing milk and another one in which the family resided.
The nearby wooden rascard encloses the area used in the past for threshing rye and the area for conserving produce. The cellar contained the room for seasoning cheese.
Part of the rascard holds a collection of equipment of carpenters and other traditional professions.
Particular importance is given to the builders’ equipment, a typical profession of this town, for which its inhabitants were famous even abroad, where they were called to work during the warm season.

How to arrive
From the village of Fontainemore, continue a few kilometres along the regional road for Gressoney, then take the bridge on the right and follow on the road which leads to the Mont Mars Nature Reserve. Once you’ve crossed the bridge over the Lys river, continue along the road that leads to Pillaz-Pian Coumarial, then leave the fork road for Pillaz on the left and continue to Pra dou Sas, where you will find directions for the ecomuseum.

The Perloz wine press is an interesting witness to the history of viticulture and rural traditions of the area.
The pressing allowed for the extraction, by pressing, of the liquid part from the marc, what remained at the end of the alcoholic fermentation after the wine had been tapped from the tuns.
The shaft is made up of a huge chestnut beam of 7.3 meters in length which moved thanks to the screw placed at the end of the longer arm.
The ancient press, now restored, is located in a long and narrow room, with free access.

THE HISTORY OF THE PRESS
The oldest part of the building can be traced back to the 16th century.
In the 17th century the land on which the press was built belonged to the Vallaise estate. Archive research attests the ownership to the Gavy family who, having contracted various debts, had to sell all of their assets to creditors by order of the judge in 1781.
Thus, the building passed to the Glésaz brothers, a family that would retain the ownership of the press until the 19th century.
Between 1790 and 1812 the building underwent a global reconstruction, clearly recognizable on the east wall.
The press worked regularly until the 1920s, ending its activity for the drastic reduction of viticulture.
Although inactive, the press remained in good condition until the end of the Second World War when a devastating fire started by the Nazi-fascists on 30 June 1944, during a retaliation against the partisans, definitively compromised its structure.

On reaching Crétaz di Miochaz, two routes branch out from where you can park your car, both leading to the last villages in Perloz that are described as inaccessible because in the past you had to go up and come down from them only on foot.
They seem like “eagle’s nests”, but easy pathways take you uphill in several minutes of hiking.

On the section upstream from Crétaz, above a large terrace that overlooks the central valley and the Canavese plain, you can find Varfey. This small village is unusual because it straddles the border line between the towns of Perloz and Lillianes and the letters P / L are impressed on the pathways and walls.

On a lower level, Chemp is a settlement on a rocky high ground smoothed down by glaciers on the border with chestnut orchards.
Proud shapes of large stone constructions from the end of the XIX century stand out on the countryside while alongside stands a tiny immaculate chapel and simpler, older rural constructions.

In* Varfey*, some barns remind us of the cereal producing role played by the surrounding abandoned terraces, while in Chemp, a magnificent XVII century barn stands alongside a home whose facade has been embellished by an arched porch.

Far from the frenetic context of daily city life, these villages are an oasis of peace, still inhabited in certain periods of the year. Work is still done in the stable or sculpting laboratory. Among the houses of the village of Chemp you can visit an open-air museum with works by various artists.
It is a good idea to tip-toe by.

The villages of Chemp and Varfey can now be reached by car (Varfey from Lillianes and Chemp from Perloz).

In Spring, an amazing flower grows in Col Fenêtre at Perloz (1670 m): the peony. The area is part of the “Natura 2000” ecological network.
The well equipped path that takes you there in 20 minutes, runs alongside two villages that will delight lovers of traditional architecture: Pesse, settlement on a gently sloping terrace above the Nantey Valley, is mostly populated in the summer season, while the village of Fenêtre, clinging to the slope once dedicated to agropastoralism, has been abandoned.

Put in action by the water of the “ru” (irrigation canal) of Marine, the mill of Glacières (or Giassère) is very old, as evidenced by the dates engraved in some parts of the structure. he first documentary reference dates back to 1501 and it is in the deed of enfeoffment of the mill tenants by the lords of Vallaise.

The mill then passed from private to community management by the village of Marine, which installed a new millstone in the early 1600s.
The community rented the mill to the tenants who had to guarantee the maintenance of the mill and also of the stream. Payments for grinding services were made in cereals and flour.

The mill was put back into operation during the Second World War by the partisans of the Lys Brigade and its use continued until the first postwar period.

Today the system is not active but is still functional. The two millstones with wooden hoppers for inserting the grains and bread-bins for collecting flour are kept inside.

Héréraz (or Hérères) castle belonged to the Vallaise-Hérères branch, which died out in 1390.
The original residential building was transformed into a parish house and the perimeter wall was used as building material for the church. The castle’s donjon, with its more than six metres long and about two metres thick walls, was adapted into a bell-tower: seven metres above the ground it is still possible to see the ancient access gate, with a blind arch on the architrave, dating back to around the 11th century.

The castle was sold by Alessandro of Roero Guarene, son of Rosalia of Vallaise, to build a church, blessed in 1878.

Situated in the centre of the municipal seat, the castle is the oldest in Perloz, and certainly dates back to the 12th century, as confirmed by a document from 1195, which refers to a “sala domini” in Perloz.
It is still known as the “Ohtal” (from the Latin “hospitalis” and French “ostel”), that is a comfortable dwelling with all necessary facilities.

The construction is imposing with five floors above ground, and these dimensions must have had a political importance: the imposing size of the fortified house was meant to catch the eye of anyone going up the Lys Valley, proof of the power of the Vallaise family.
Its interesting features include a series of two-mullioned, trilobate, round, and cross windows, ended in grey stone. On the inside the palace had a well yielding fresh water. Two large fireplaces are still visible; one bears the Vallaise family coat of arms, sculpted in grey stone.

The castle was burned down during Nazi-fascist rounding up campaign on June 30 1944. The roof was restored, but it wasn’t possible to recover the two floors with wood flooring.

Charles castle is a series of fortified houses. It was inhabited by Charles, notary and lord of Perloz and royal judge in Bard who, in 1709, having contributed to liberating the fortress of Bard from the French, was awarded with a noble title by Duke Victor Amadeus II.

This fortified house can be found on the left-hand side of the paved road coming from Pont St. Martin.
It is a complex of three buildings, consisting of four storeys above ground, close to a steep slope with a stream at the bottom.

Access to the inside is gained via the side tower, with its machicolation and “viret”, a spiral staircase from 1616, with a beautiful stone balustrade. The two upper floors of the fortified house bear the original wooden ceilings. One room has a false ceiling with secret nook. The kitchen boast a large fireplace with wooden hood.
The cellars and the so-called prisons rested on live rock, while overlooking the brook is an opening that facilitated escape from the building in case of danger. Not far from the entrance tower there is another entrance to the lower body of the castle, via a staircase and a door bearing the Vallaise-Challant coat of arms, commemorating the marriage between Pierre Vallaise-Challant (De la Côte branch) and Antoinette de Challant (around 1400).

These buildings were later refurbished and modified, however they were probably built in the 14th or 15 centuries, with additions in the 16the and 17th centuries

In the main village of Perloz, this 17th century chapel is dedicated to San Rocco who, in artistic iconography, usually presents the shell and pilgrim’s stick as distinctive elements and is thus represented in the central fresco on the facade.
Inside, the painting on the altar represents the Saint with the dog, in the act of lifting his robe to show the signs of the plague.

Nel villaggio di Plan-De-Brun, al lato della antica mulattiera che sale al borgo di Perloz e lungo l’itinerario escursionistico Cammino Balteo, si affaccia la cappella dedicata alla Santissima Trinità che pare esistesse già nel XVIII secolo come risulta da una visita pastorale svoltasi nel 1786.

L’edificio venne ricostruito nel 1835 a spese di un abitante del villaggio.
Sul lato destro sorgono la sacrestia ed il campanile che ancora oggi reca evidenti segni di colpi di mitragliatrice essendo stato teatro di scontri tra partigiani e nazifascisti nel 1944 durante la lotta di liberazione.

La facciata richiama in parte l’architettura del santuario di Notre-Dame-De-la-Garde con un portico a tre archi davanti all’ingresso.

L’altare maggiore è in muratura, sovrastato da una cornice in legno intagliato e dipinto che racchiude una tela raffigurante l’incoronazione della Vergine ed i santi Pantaleone, Giovanni Battista, Giovanni evangelista, Vittore, Bartolomeo, Caterina e Anna.
Gli altari laterali sono in legno intagliato dipinto e dorato dedicati al Sacro Cuore di Gesù e al Sacro Cuore di Maria.

Looking at the church dedicated to Saint Joseph, in the village of Tour d’Héréraz, the medieval tower stands out, which today is its bell tower. At that time, many travelers passed the waters of the Lys stream over the nearby Pont Moretta bridge, located downstream from the church, and this tower was used to control wayfarers and the passage of goods. It was part of a fortified complex donated to the Tour d’Héréraz community by a descendant of the Vallaise family in the second half of the 19th century.

In 1878, the year of the church’s consecration, the tower was transformed into a bell tower by modifying its terminal part to make room for the belfry. At a height of seven meters you can still see the ancient access door with an architrave surmounted by a blind arch.

The church is generally closed.

In the past Salvador’s Church held a very important role because the parish of Perloz covered the entire Lys valley. Later, from the end of 1100, independent parishes were established in the surrounding areas.
It is not known exactly when it was built, with some saying around 772, however it was probably built around the year 1000. Only the bell-tower (its base is from the IX or X century, however the upper parts are more recent) of the original building remains because it was entirely demolished in the early seventeenth century to make way for the new church.
The church, which was built between 1616 and 1620 in the same place as the previous one, has remained almost intact to present day. It has a rectangular plan and is composed of a single nave with three ribbed vaults.

The main facade is frescoed with a painting depicting the Last Judgement dating back to 1676. Inside, one can observe the main altar in black marble and multi-coloured wooden inlay. There are beautiful panels with statues of St. Orso, St. Gratus, St. John the Baptist, St. James the Evangelist and obviously St. Salvador, which is positioned to the centre. The relic contains a thorn said to be from Christ’s crown brought to the church during The Crusades.

The first construction of the shrine seems to date back to the 12th century, given the casual finding of a statue of the Madonna, according to tradition, which was probably hidden during the era of the barbaric invasions. It was extended between 1715 and 1718.

The facade is very elegant, with a portico supported by four columns. The interior, frescoed in the nineteenth century by the Avondo brothers, was covered with ribbed vaults and small, votive squares and displays of popular faith and gratitude for the “grace received”. The three wooden altars from the eighteenth century and the statue of the miraculous Virgin Mary seated with Child (14th century) are worth noting. The inner windowsill of the facade, on the left, has an oval stone used as an “élémosinaire” or “chaplain”, with the inscription IHS and the Vallaise shield. The square in front of the church hosts a beautiful fountain with a column, a mask dated 1642, and a base dug from a single block of stone.
The back of the church has a bell-tower and a house for pilgrims, with an elegant portico with a view out towards the flatland.

This exhibition was opened for the Concours du Patois Abbé Cerlogne, held in Perloz in 2001.
It contains several items of furniture and school articles from the old school in Marine, now restored and used as a museum and as the tourist office events room.

The exhibition opens on demand or on the occasion of festivals taking place in the hamlet.

For information and reservations, please call the phone numbers reported in the “Contact” area.

The Museum, inaugurated in its new headquarters on 25 April 2001 25 April 2008, is housed in the headquarters of Loc. Capoluogo inside the historic building that was the home, immediately after the war, of the first partisan band active in the lower Valle d’Aosta, the Brigata Lys protagonist in 1943 of the first resistance action in the Lower Valley, in the more general context of the war and the struggle for Liberation in the Aosta Valley.
Relics, uniforms, helmets, clothing, flags, topographic maps, weapons, objects of various kinds are suitably combined with precious documentary, photographic and iconographic material, enhanced thanks to multimedia technologies and new and engaging communication methods. The Documentation Center set up in the Museum itself is equipped with publications, videos, CDs, cassettes, manuscripts and archival documents. A film on the Resistance in the Aosta Valley and Perloz, as well as multilingual audioguides, enrich the museum experience. They tell the story of the museum and accompany visitors in a path of discovery of the permanent collection.

Visits on reservation by contacting the Municipality at the phone numbers indicated in the “Contacts” section.

Les Chemins de la Liberté
Along with the museum, it is possible to find out about places of partisan fights along the route that starts from Plan de Burn as far as the hamlet of Marine; the path takes about one hour.