Location of the valley in the Aosta ValleyView of the upper Valpelline
Valpelline is one of the side valleys of the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. It shares its name with one of the communes within its territory (Valpelline).
The stream running through the Valpelline is the River Buthier.
Vessona Pass (2,794 m) to the Saint-Barthélemy valley
Fenêtre de Durand (2,786 m) to the valley of Bagnes
Climate
The Valpelline is known locally in Valdôtainpatois as the Coumba frèida (or Fr., Combe froide, literally the cold hollow) due to its particularly harsh climate.
History
The Bionaz Valley
The valley was for a long period a site of exchange—or of conflict—with the neighbouring Valais.
In the Middle Ages the valley was a possession of the lords of Quart, which they granted to the noble family of the district known as La Tour-de-Valpelline (or La-Tour-des-Prés).
On the extinction of the Quart Family in 1377, Valpelline passed to the House of Savoy. In 1612 it was assigned to the Perrone di San Martino, a Piedmontese noble family involved in the exploitation of the mine at Ollomont.
The valley was for many centuries difficult of access: the first carriage road to Bionaz was constructed in 1953.
Centres of population
L'alta Valpelline pictured from Gignod. The Grand Combin appears in the background
The parish of Saint-Pantaléon de Valpelline is regarded as one of the most ancient of the Great St Bernard Valley. First documented in 1176 it included the settlements of Bionaz, Oyace and Ollomont. The current church, built in 1722, has three important chapels: the first, dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows, is the work of Vignettes (1755); the second, dedicated to Saint Roch, is the work of Semon (1640); and the third, dedicated to Saint Barbara, is the work of Thoules (1663).
