Aosta August 9, 2021
This small province sits in its NW corner of Italy where France, Switzerland, and Italy meet at the Mount Blanc massif. Aosta is the last region in mainland Europe that I have to see (excepting Crimea and Don Bass in Ukraine, both impossible to see as one needs a Russian passport).
Aosta was my last Nomad Mania region in mainland Europe (except Crimea and Donbas in Ukraine, both impossible to visit and require a Russian visa). Tucked in the corner of France and Switzerland, it is a wealth of mountains and a gorgeous drive. All three countries meet at the Mount Blanc massif.
Fort di Bard. This is a fortified complex built in the 19th century by the House of Savoy on a rocky prominence above Bard, a town and comune in the Aosta Valley. Fort Bard has been completely restored after many years of neglect. In 2006 it reopened to tourists as the Museum of the Alps, it has additional art exhibitions and galleries. In the summer, the main courtyard is used to host musical and theatrical performances.
The fort, which is at the entrance to the Aosta Valley, is located in a narrow gorge above the Dora Baltea river. It has been used for millennia to control the historic route between Italy and France. The current fortifications were built by Charles Albert of Savoy between 1830 and 1838. It replaced a 10th-century castle that had, itself, been built on an earlier structure founded by Theodoric I in the 5th century. The castle was under the control of the powerful local lords of Bard until the middle of the 13th century when ownership passed to the House of Savoy. Under their control, the defences were strengthened and improved.
On May 14, 1800, a 40,000-strong French army was stopped by 400 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers at Fort Bard. They held the pass for two weeks, completely ruining Napoleon Bonaparte’s plan of making a surprise attack on the Po Valley and Turin. When he heard the news, he named the fort vilain castel de Bard. Bonaparte then ordered the fort to be razed to the ground. It was not until 1830 that Charles Albert of Savoy, fearing new attacks from the French, ordered that the fort be rebuilt. The task was entrusted to the famed Italian military engineer, Francesco Antonio Olivero. The work, which took eight years to complete, created a fort with two distinct levels. The upper part had conventional battlements whereas the lower part had 50 gun ports in autonomous casemates that were designed to offer mutual protection if attacked. A total of 416 soldiers could now be billeted in the 283-room fort. The upper level had a courtyard that contained the arsenals and barracks. The fort had enough ammunition and food supplies for three months. By the end of the 19th century, the fort had lost its military value and fell into disuse.
It requires 3 separate ascensors to reach the top of the fort. Panoramic views of the Aosta Valley are below.
It was great luck that the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit was in the top museum – incredible photographs and made the entrance fee worthwhile. 7€ + 4€ parking (pay only at the top of the parkade).
Castle of Fenis, Fénis. This is an Italian medieval castle located in the town of Fénis. It is one of the most famous castles in Aosta Valley, and for its architecture and its many towers and battlemented walls has become one of the major tourist attractions of the region. In 1242, it probably was a simple keep surrounded by walls. From 1320 to 1420, the castle was expanded to its actual appearance.
In 1895 architect Alfredo d’Andrade purchased it and started a restoration campaign to secure the damaged structures. In 1935 a second campaign gave the castle the current appearance. The rooms were also provided with wood-period furniture.
The keep has a pentagonal layout, with towers at the corners. It is surrounded by a double boundary wall with battlements and by a series of watchtowers linked by a walkway.
At the top of the staircase, a 15th-century fresco features Saint George killing the dragon, while the walls of the balconies are decorated with images of sages and prophets and proverbs in old French. The interior of the castle is divided into three floors.
Gran Paradiso NP is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park; it is contiguous with the French Vanoise National Park. The land the park encompasses was initially protected in order to protect the Alpine ibex from poachers, as it was a personal hunting ground for King Victor Emmanuel II, but now also protects other species.
Home to ibex and chamois, it has ski runs and a vast network of paths, including the trail from Pont Valsavarenche to Nivolet plateau, which passes a waterfall. The Paradisia Alpine Botanic Garden has native plants, lichen and butterflies. In the north, Parc Animalier d’Introd provides shelter to marmots, deer and birds of prey
Mont Avic Natural Park. Established in 1989 to preserve the high valley of Torrente Chalamy; in 2003, a part of the great valley of Dondena was also included in the protected area, reaching up as far as the mountain ridges of the Val Soana and the Valle di Cogne. The Park stretches over 5,747 hectares and borders on the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso.
You can reach the site along the A5, coming off at Verrès and taking the SS26 towards Aosta – then the Strada Regionale n°6, via Fabbrica, as far as Champdepraz – and the local road to Chevrère. Alternatively: take the A5 and come off at Pont Saint Martin – SS26 towards Aosta – Strada Regionale n°2 from Hône to Champorcher and when you come to Chardonney you see the start of Alta Via n. 2. itinerary.
AOSTA (city):
Porta Pretoria is the eastern gateway to the Roman city of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum (today Aosta ). Built-in 25 BC, it is still in an excellent state of conservation and is made up of two series of arches – a major central one and two minor lateral ones – which enclose a parade ground. On both arches the walkways of the sentries are visible.
The central arch, which measures about 7 meters in span, was intended for the passage of wagons, while the two lateral ones, 2.65 meters wide, were for pedestrians.
The Porta Pretoria is made up of blocks of stone fixed with crushed slate extracted from the seabed of the Dora Baltea which was rich in it in the Roman age.
.An excavation campaign was launched in 2012, which ended in 2013, to bring to light the original pavement of the time of construction, located about 2.5 meters below the current road level. The ground has been replaced with bridges to allow you to see the original and is now the Archaeology Museum
From Aosta, it is necessary to take the autostrada to get to Mt Blanc. The tolls for the one-way 45km drive and return were a whopping 31E. It is also boring as it travels through many long tunnels.
Courmayeur (pop ) sits below Mt Blanc and the Skyway Monte Bianco. The architecture looks Swiss with amazing stone roofs. It was packed with tourists. I attempted to take the cable car but traffic was impossible to navigate.
Massif du Mont-Blanc (inscription comme patrimoine naturel transfrontalier, avec France et Suisse) Tentative WHS (30/01/2008). This is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major independent summits, each over 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) in height. It is named after Mont Blanc (4,808 metres (15,774 ft)), the highest point in western Europe and the European Union. Because of its considerable overall altitude, a large proportion of the massif is covered by glaciers, which include the Mer de Glace and the Miage Glacier – the longest glaciers in France and Italy, respectively.
The massif forms a watershed between the vast catchments of the rivers Rhône and Po, and a tripoint between France, Italy and Switzerland; it also marks the border between two climate regions by separating the northern and western Alps from the southern Alps. The mountains of the massif consist mostly of granite and gneiss rocks and at high altitudes, the vegetation is an arctic-alpine flora.
The valleys that delimit the massif were used as communication routes by the Romans until they left around the 5th century AD. The region remained of some military importance through to the mid-20th century. A peasant farming economy operated within these valleys for many centuries until the glaciers and mountains were “discovered” by the outside world in the 18th century. Word of these impressive sights began to spread, and Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786, marking the start of the sport of mountaineering. The region is now a major tourist destination, drawing in over six million visitors per year. It provides a wide range of opportunities for outdoor recreation and activities such as sightseeing, hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering and skiing. Around one hundred people a year die across its mountains and, occasionally, bodies have been lost and entombed in its glaciers for decades.
Access into the mountains is facilitated by cable cars, mountain railways, and mountain huts which offer overnight refuge to climbers and skiers. The long-distance Tour du Mont Blanc hiking trail circumnavigates the whole massif in an 11-day trek of 170 kilometres (110 mi). The Mont Blanc Tunnel connects the French town of Chamonix on the northern side with the Italian town of Courmayeur in the south. The high mountains have provided many opportunities for scientific research, including neutrino measurements within the tunnel and impact of climate change on its highest slopes. Recent rises in average temperatures have led to significant glacial retreat across the massif and an awareness of the need for better environmental protection, including a call for World Heritage Site status.
It was an approximately 125km drive back to Turin, most mountainous.
NOMAD MANIA AOSTA
Massif du Mont-Blanc (inscription comme patrimoine naturel transfrontalier, avec France et Suisse) (30/01/2008)
Borders
France-Italy
Italy-Switzerland
Villages and Small Towns
Courmayeur
Étroubles
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Skyway Monte Bianco
Museums
Aosta: Regional Archaeological Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts
Bard: Fort Bard
Fénis: Castle of Fenis
Vestiges of the Past
Aosta: Porta Pretoria
World of Nature
Gran Paradiso NP
Mont Avic Natural Park
Trails 1 – Treks: Tour du Mont Blanc Trek
Ski Resorts
Breuil-Cervinia
Courmayeur
Monterosa (Alagna, Champoluc, and Gressoney)