In Search of Celtic Origins
The ancient inhabitants of the Aosta Valley were the Salassi, a Gallo-Celtic people probably descended from the Allobroges, who lived in the Canavese area and the valley of the Dora Baltea River in the 2nd century BC.
They soon found themselves defending their territory against the expansionist ambitions of the Romans, who sought control over this strategically vital region.
Although Roman sources described the Salassi as barbarians, they were in fact a well-organised and culturally sophisticated people. Their villages (oppida, singular oppidum) were fortified with palisades and ditches; their wooden houses were warm and comfortable, and their roads were paved. Society was organised into clans, each led by a king chosen from among the most valiant noble warriors. These leaders remained in close contact with one another to make collective decisions.
Their religion was deeply tied to nature: forests and riverbanks were sacred, and plants were revered — each associated with symbolic meanings and specific virtues. They practised human and animal sacrifices in honour of their gods, performing rituals with deep respect for the souls being offered, which they believed to be immortal.
Knowledge was transmitted orally by druids — priests whose expertise spanned every field, from mathematics to astronomy, from medicine to divination, from theology to the natural sciences. Women held an active and respected role in Salassi society, with the possibility of becoming leaders, warriors, or priestesses.
Heroic deeds, traditions, and legends were preserved by bards who, through harp music, created a spiritual link between the human and divine realms — a role that placed them in close connection with the priestly class.
The Romans struggled to conquer Salassi territory. In 143 BC, the Salassi were defeated by the legions of Consul Appius Claudius Pulcher, but true submission did not come until 25 BC, when they were finally overcome by the troops of one of Augustus’ lieutenants.
Even after Roman domination, it took many years for the Salassi to abandon their ancestral deities, and numerous pagan temples remained in use for centuries.

The Sacred Stone Circle
The Latin writer Petronius poetically describes the sacred site where the divinity Graius was venerated as forty-six elongated stones — menhirs — set upright in the ground and now partly covered by soil and debris accumulated over the centuries.
These stones were arranged in a circle with a diameter of seventy-two metres, known as a cromlech — from the Celtic words croum, meaning “curve”, and lech, meaning “sacred stone”.
According to Petronius, this holy site “raises its head towards the stars”, suggesting that the alignment of the stones was determined by careful observation of the movements of the stars and planets, and that it may have functioned as a form of astronomical observatory used to mark the changing of the seasons — essential for agricultural life.
In De Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar describes the Celtic druids — priests and keepers of knowledge — as attentive observers of the heavens. It is likely that they used a pre-existing structure, thereby continuing the traditions of an ancient astronomical culture through a stone circle believed to possess magical powers and designed with precise alignments to sight the stars.
The topographical position of the monument — on the very crest of the pass — is undoubtedly linked to its function. Even the Roman road that crosses the pass runs alongside the cromlech without cutting through it, apparently out of respect for its symbolic significance — which must still have been alive in Roman times amongst the peoples on both sides of the Alps.

The Roman Conquest
Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (modern-day Aosta) was the colony founded by Emperor Augustus in 25 BC to guard the network of roads that crossed the Alpine valleys.
The Aosta Valley, with the Little and Great St Bernard Passes, commanded the routes leading towards the transalpine territories and lay within the land of the Salassi — the native population who proved far from easy to subdue.
The Roman consular road of Gaul — along the section stretching from Eporedia (now Ivrea, in Piedmont) to Colonia Copia Felix Munatia Lugdunum (modern Lyon) — climbed to more than 2,100 metres above sea level at the Little St Bernard Pass. This road enabled armies, travellers, merchants, and pilgrims to cross the Alps towards Gaul.
The route, paved with stone, followed the trace of an older caravan trail already used by the Salassi. It was straight, with a regular gradient and no bends, designed to facilitate the movement of carts laden with goods of every kind.
It was a well-used road, travelled in stages. To accommodate those journeying along it, mansiones were built — roadside stations providing lodging and services. The mansio at the Little St Bernard Pass stood at the highest altitude of all, and its large size bears witness to its continuous and intensive use throughout the year, thanks to a mild climate that permitted both winter passage and the cultivation of grain and the rearing of livestock even at such heights.
Today, only the foundation outline remains, yet it reveals that the complex included extensive communal areas such as courtyards, stables, and a temple. The cellae — rooms used as lodgings for merchants and travellers accompanied by pack animals — numbered twelve, arranged along the sides of the central courtyard.
There were two entrances: one to the south-east, corresponding to the rear of the structure, and another to the north-west, facing the Via delle Gallie and separated by another building across the road, which served as a warehouse. The roof was originally thatched, but was later replaced with slate slabs quarried nearby.

Saint Bernard and Pierre Chanoux – Custodians of the Alpine Pass
In 1034, Saint Bernard of Menthon entered the Chapter of Canons at Aosta Cathedral, where he was entrusted with establishing two hospices to assist travellers crossing the high Alpine passes: one along the route of Mont Joux (the Great St Bernard Pass) and the other along Colonne Joux (the Little St Bernard Pass).
From the outset, Bernard sought to suppress the remnants of pagan worship that still marked the mountain landscape — votive temples, sanctuaries, and a column surmounted by a statue of Jupiter, invoked by travellers for protection during the perilous ascent. His mission combined pastoral devotion with a vision of Christianising the Alpine routes, transforming them into safe corridors of faith and hospitality.
Guided by this spiritual and humanitarian purpose, Bernard dedicated his life to establishing a refuge under divine protection. The founding of the first hospice in the 11th century marked the beginning of an enduring tradition of assistance to pilgrims and wayfarers. In 1923 alone, records show as many as 7,452 crossings through the pass.
Among the hospice’s most distinguished rectors was Abbot Pierre Chanoux, who served for half a century (1859–1909), faithfully continuing Saint Bernard’s legacy. A scholar, naturalist, and man of faith, Chanoux built a small retreat known as the Monument to the Four Winds — a place of meditation sheltered from the elements. In 1902, on what was then the Franco-Italian frontier, he commissioned a statue of Saint Bernard subduing a chained dragon — a powerful allegory of the triumph of Christianity over paganism.
Since 1752, the hospice has been administered by the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. Severely damaged by bombing in 1944, it was subsequently rebuilt and, to this day — albeit only during the summer months — continues to uphold the ancient tradition of Alpine hospitality.
Abbot Chanoux also founded the Chanousia Alpine Botanical Garden, later named in his honour. Situated roughly 800 metres beyond the Italian–French border, the garden extends over nearly 10,000 m² and conserves around 1,200 species of rare alpine flora. It reflects Chanoux’s wide-ranging intellectual interests — among them mountaineering, archaeology, and the natural sciences.
At the hospice, Chanoux established an extensive library devoted to these disciplines, collaborated with eminent geologists, and erected a meteorological tower to record systematic observations of the region’s climate and seasons.
The botanical garden was inaugurated on 29 July 1897, financed personally by Chanoux. Upon his death, he requested to be buried at the pass. His coffin was borne down the valley on the shoulders of pallbearers, followed by crowds who gathered to pay their final respects. In accordance with his wishes, he was laid to rest in the chapel beside the garden he had so passionately conceived and nurtured.

Winds of War on the Pass
Scattered across the pass are the remnants of military defensive works — bunkers, lookout and firing posts, retaining walls, and anti-tank barriers — constructed for strategic use during the Second World War, although several structures trace their origins to earlier fortification efforts.
Like the broader network of defences built along the Alpine arc to repel a possible French incursion, these works formed part of Italy’s extensive wartime system known collectively as the Vallo Alpino. The Great St Bernard Pass was considered one of the most accessible and strategically significant crossings, and therefore received particular attention in the defensive plan.
The earliest fortifications comprised a few positions adapted from natural caves. However, during the latter half of the 1930s, major works were undertaken to reinforce and expand them. Anti-tank obstacles were installed along both sides of the road at the natural watershed of the pass, while numerous new structures arose — shelters, artillery observation posts, bunkers, and the small forts of Chaz Duraz and Monte Belvedere.
Construction of the principal bunker began in 1933–34 under Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, then Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. Work progressed intermittently, halted for long periods, and was resumed in 1936 and again between 1941 and 1942, as political tensions mounted on the eve of global conflict. Despite these efforts, the structure was never fully completed.
With the approach of war in the summer of 1939, a contingent of Italian soldiers was dispatched to secure and defend the frontier. They were stationed at the Traversette Redoubt, overlooking the plateau of the pass, from where they could monitor enemy movements across the border.
The bunkers visible today — identifiable by their narrow entrances and cast-iron observation domes — were used only during the most active phases of combat rather than as permanent garrisons. Compact in scale, each was designed to accommodate two soldiers armed with machine guns, with firing lines extending in four directions. Conditions inside were harsh and overcrowded. A radio link connected the bunkers with the Traversette fort and the fallback position near Lake Verney.
In the winter of 1945, the Traversette outpost succeeded in halting a French advance, aided greatly by heavy overnight snowfall. Yet with the arrival of spring, renewed enemy offensives placed the Italian defenders in grave difficulty. The subsequent entry of American Allied forces compounded their predicament. Many soldiers were trapped in the bunkers for weeks — perhaps months — without any possibility of retreat. Numerous men perished from exhaustion and deprivation; the few survivors were eventually captured.

The Archaeological Excavation of Orgères
Since 2014, the University of Turin has conducted a series of archaeological excavation campaigns at Orgères, situated above Pont Serrand at an altitude of 1,655 metres. The site lies in a narrow corridor where the Orgères Valley meets the Chavannes Valley, along an alternative route to the Little St Bernard Pass. The ongoing project has revealed evidence of at least four distinct phases of occupation and involves the active participation of students enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree in Cultural Heritage, specialising in archaeology.
The Orgères Project serves a dual purpose: training and dissemination. It offers young archaeologists valuable hands-on experience in excavation management while also fostering public engagement and awareness of the importance, methods, and interpretive challenges of archaeological research in Alpine environments.
Excavations have so far uncovered a settlement dating to the 1st century AD, which appears to have been inhabited — either continuously or intermittently — until 1777, as attested by the discovery of a coin from the Duchy of Milan.
A major interpretive challenge lies in the successive reuse and adaptation of the site’s structures over many centuries. Artefacts recovered to date — including an iron arrowhead, fragments of pottery, animal bones, and a spindle whorl (a small disc used for spinning wool) — suggest that the site once contained a stable or shelter used for breeding sheep and goats.
As research continues, archaeologists hypothesise the existence of a 17th-century defensive line, approximately thirty metres in length, founded upon much earlier structural remains. Ongoing investigation aims to clarify the function, chronology, and broader historical significance of this complex high-altitude settlement.

La Thuile – A Name that Speaks
No historical documents clearly establish when La Thuile became a permanent settlement. In ancient times, the village was more of a place of passage — a hub for cultural and commercial exchange between peoples on either side of the Alps — rather than a permanent community.
When the Romans built the Via delle Gallie, the consular road crossing the entire Aosta Valley, the area gained strategic importance.
Heading westward toward the pass then known as Alpis Graia — named after the Celtic god Graius — the village of La Thuile began to take on a clearer role: assisting travellers crossing the pass, and recovering or burying those who perished during harsh winter journeys.
The village first appears as Ariolica on the Tabula Peutingeriana, a 12th-century map that copies a 4th-century Roman original.
After the fall of the Roman Empire and its annexation into the Frankish Kingdom in 575 AD, the village became known as Thuilia. Its current name, dating from around 1760, derives from the Latin word tegula (“tile”), referring to the slate slabs (lose) quarried between Pont Serrand and Mont du Parc, used to roof local houses.
During the Fascist period, La Thuile was briefly renamed Porta Littoria — fortunately, only for a short time.
Locals affectionately call it La Tchoueuille, using the Valdostan Franco-Provençal patois, a language still alive and spoken in the region today.