Open-Air Museum

Borderlands are often rich in history, traditions and traces of the people who have inhabited them over the centuries. If the region also happens to be near one of the most important passes in the Alps – as in the case of La Thuile – its “history” becomes even more fascinating, brimming with details, architecture and legends. All this, set against the stunning natural backdrop of the Aosta Valley: an Open-Air Museum guarded by forests, fortified by mountains and lapped by the energy of rivers, waterfalls and glacial lakes.

5,000 years of history; 8 different eras, each with their own finds, 10 ancient chapels built between the 17th and 19th centuries, a mine that can be explored for 100 m, right up to the original winch from the early 20th century, 1 botanical garden, among the oldest in Europe, and much more as befits a borderland, which by its very nature, has been a crossroads of cultural exchange, battles and religious rites. 
A truly magical place, where the peaks of its towering mountains seem to touch the sky. This enchanting land was chosen more than 3,000 years ago for the construction of one of Italy’s oldest stone circles – the Cromlech of La Thuile. Likely a remarkable astronomical calendar, it is also a structure of significant ritual value, highlighting an ancient and profound connection with the changing seasons. A key reference point in time and space for peoples and travellers across the ages.

The Celts, Salassi and Romans each left their marks here, transforming it into an Open-Air Museum over the centuries. Notable remains include a Gallic temple dedicated to the Celtic god Belenus and the subject of numerous legends, but destroyed by the Romans, who also left behind in La Thuile two mansiones (rest areas symbolising the Empire’s grandeur and unity), serving as a place of rest and refreshment along the preferred route for travellers crossing the Alpis Graia to Gaul. The Church’s influence is evident, beginning with the statue of St Bernard of Menthon, erected 4 metres up directly on the former Jupiter’s Column, and the Hospice commissioned by Bernard himself in 1100, repeatedly destroyed during the wars. Managed by the friars of the Mauritian Order, the Hospice currently houses the Museum of the History of the Pass and the International Tourist Information Office, catering to those who visit La Thuile to ski, but also to explore nature and history.
These majestic and beautiful mountains have, in more recent times, allowed the Tchouiillen to extract argentiferous lead and anthracite, and today, the remnants of past mining activities can be glimpsed in the landscape of tunnels, broken tracks and old winches. A parallel journey beyond time yet integrated into nature, which effortlessly reclaims its space, transforming the area into an “adventure park” of sorts, sculpted by history.

An Open-Air Museum inviting the curious to lose themselves in the woods of La Thuile – or perhaps find themselves – while wandering among small villages, churches, lakes, archaeological remains, fortifications and bunkers, all under the watchful gaze of Mont Blanc. 

It boasts an historical, archaeological, natural and mining heritage unmatched elsewhere in our country.