Parco Naturale Mont Avic - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Mont Avic is a mountain of Graian located on the ridge that branches off northwards from Mont Glacier. The summit is located in the Valle d'Aosta region, on the border between the municipalities of Champdepraz and Chambave, and gives its name to the park of the same name. On the summit in 1957, a Madonna was placed by some young people from Champdepraz, a gift from the Ivrea section of the CAI. One of the nice trekking destination and a good viewpoint too.

The Sundial House is one of the most famous castles in the Valle d'Aosta. It is located in the capital of Issogne, on the hydrographic right of the Dora Baltea, and appears as a Renaissance stately home, creating a sort of contrast with the austere castle of Verrès which is almost opposite the opposite side of the river. Famous are its inner courtyard, with the fountain of the pomegranate and the colorful arcades, a rare example of Alpine painting medieval.

The Ussel castle is one of the castles medieval of Valle d'Aosta. It is located on top of a rocky ridge overlooking the village of Châtillon, in a position that guarantees control of the entrance to the Valtournenche and the valley floor of the Dora Baltea. The castle rises on a serpentinite rock, separated from the rest of the mountain by the "Aosta- Ranzola " fault worked over the centuries by the Pleistocene glacier.

The castle of Verrès is one of the most famous medieval Aosta Valley manors. Built as a military fortress by Ibleto di Challant in the fourteenth century, it was one of the first examples of a monobloc castle, consisting of a single building unlike the older manors formed by a series of buildings enclosed by a wall. It stands on a rocky promontory that dominates the town of Verrès and the Val d'Ayas road.

The Gamba castle, from the historical point of view, is the castle "child" of the three in the municipality of Châtillon, in Valle d'Aosta: what Passerin d'Entrèves and to Ussel is in fact medieval era. The Gamba castle, dating back to the twentieth century, is located on a hillock in the western part of the town, in the locality of Cret-de-Breil, near the regional hotel school, and is completely surrounded by a park open to the public all year round. It is clearly visible from the A5 motorway.

The Col de Joux is an alpine pass located in the Aosta Valley in the municipality of Saint-Vincent. The pass was in the past very popular, and in particular, it was used by the Valsesian emigrants on their way to Savoy and France who, through the Val Vogna , the Valdobbia and Ranzola hills reached the Col de Joux to continue then passing the city of Aosta and climbing to the Piccolo San Bernardo hill.