La Thuile
The Heart of a Mountain Village
The houses that form the oldest cores of La Thuile’s hamlets stand as sentinels of the past, revealing how traditional architecture seamlessly combined sturdy stone walls with wooden beams, ceilings, and floors, all crowned with local slate roofs (lose).
Nothing was left to chance: every choice reflected the availability of local materials and the skill of local craftsmen.
Homes were often large, built to shelter extended families who worked and lived together, sharing both hardships and provisions—the supplies that ensured the survival of people and livestock through the seasons.
The buildings grew more vertically than horizontally to save space for vegetable gardens and hay meadows. They stood close together, forming compact clusters where rooftops nearly touched, creating sheltered passageways—especially useful in winter.
Around the houses stretched a mosaic of colourful, orderly gardens and ponton—external passages used to carry hay, by shoulder or muleback, up to the airy lofts beneath the roofs.
Each hamlet had one or more fountains, often fed by streams from the rooftops and equipped with large stone basins. These provided water for daily use and served as lively gathering places where women washed clothes and exchanged village news.
Village life revolved around the community—always united, always ready to share both difficulties and joyous moments: baking black bread in communal ovens, celebrating religious feasts in small but vibrant chapels, or simply coming together in times of need.
Exploring the hamlets of La Thuile, every corner reveals glimpses of this enduring mountain world—the living heart of an alpine village.
The Church and Its Miraculous Crucifix
Following Via Debernard — named after the noble local Debernard family — you arrive at the parish church of La Thuile.
The earliest documented evidence of a parish community in La Thuile dates back to the 12th century. A parchment concerning the provost of Saint-Gilles de Verres, dated 1113, records that in this year the Bishop of Aosta, Boso, granted the parish of La Thuile to the canons of Saint Giles. In 1245, the provost of Verrès ceded the parish to the Hospice of the Little St Bernard Pass. Although the Hospice was administratively dependent on Verrès, it retained its own income, which was used to support the Hospice. In 1466, when the Little St Bernard Hospice was united with the Great St Bernard Hospice, the parish of La Thuile returned under the direct control of the Bishop of Aosta.
The present church is built on a Latin cross plan with semicircular apses. Against the apse wall stands an 18th-century gilded wooden tabernacle, originally from the Convent of the Visitation in Aosta. Above the altar hangs a striking 15th-century wooden crucifix, venerated by the La Thuile community for its association with a miraculous event.
In 1794, the passage of French troops brought widespread devastation and fire. The church was looted and damaged, and the crucifix itself was attacked. Yet it could not be removed from its place beneath the vault; soldiers attempting to do so either failed or perished, and the crucifix remained unharmed. Inscribed on the vault is a Latin phrase: “Haec Christi imago caeteris cuntis bello vastatis 1794 mirabilite remansit. Deo gratias.”
(“Of all the things destroyed in the war of 1794, this image of Christ was miraculously preserved. Thanks be to God.”)
The church’s interior walls were painted by Ettore Mazzini between 1945 and 1946, at the request of Parish Priest Elie Pession, fulfilling the La Thuile community’s wish to seek divine protection during the Second World War.
The bell tower is a square stone structure with plastered walls, decorated with arches on its upper two levels. It probably dates to the 14th or 15th century, while the spire was added in the 18th century.
The church and parish are dedicated to Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (modern-day Turkey) in the 4th century. The saint is depicted in a fresco in the left-hand apse, and his relics were transferred to Bari on 9 May 1087. His patronal feast is celebrated annually on this date.
The feast culminates in the Badoche, a ritual with propitiatory origins believed to date back to the Celts. Young villagers, typically bachelors, dress in traditional attire and move from house to house, accompanied by accordion music, announcing the dance and collecting offerings. The small procession carries a brightly decorated staff adorned with flowers and silk ribbons.
After Mass, the square comes alive: the Badoche procession enters with the musicians, and the dances begin, gradually involving all those present in a tradition passed down through oral history. Festivities continue into the evening, accompanied by wine and local delicacies.
The Names of the Hamlets Speak for Themselves
The patois—a Franco-Provençal language spoken in local families, rich with subtle dialectal variations—reveals that the names of La Thuile’s hamlets often reflect specific topographical or geographical features.
Exploring these hamlets, you can uncover the stories behind their names. Faubourg combines foris (outside) and burgus (village), indicating it lay beyond the main settlement. Les Granges, surrounded by meadows on the road to Col San Carlo, recalls the barns that once stood here, as this area was used for cultivating rye and wheat. Préillon, adjacent to Les Granges, refers to petits prés—small plots of land. Thovex had a tuff quarry (tofus), Buic lay at the foot of the woods (bouque), and Clou, from the Latin clusum, denotes a place that was once enclosed.
But the story does not end there. Moulin marks the site of mills once powered by the waters of the Grand Ru. Bathieu recalls washhouses where sturdy fabrics were beaten clean. Golette (Grande and Petite) refers to houses built along a narrow gorge by the Dora del Verney. Villaret (from the Latin Villaretum or Villarium) hints at dwellings and stables constructed near the small valley of La Joux.
Moving towards the waterfalls and on to the Little St Bernard Pass, we find Promise, derived from Promizor (meaning noon in patois), signifying a south-facing meadow; and Pont Serrand, or “closed bridge,” marking the last inhabited village along a narrow gorge leading to the alpine pass.
Places of Worship and Devotion: The Heart of Village Life
Throughout the villages of La Thuile, numerous chapels were built during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. These small sanctuaries harmonise beautifully with the surrounding landscape and bear witness to a profound faith—a shared language that unites and comforts the community.
Though modest in size, the chapels are meticulously furnished and adorned with murals and sculptures. They are dedicated to various saints and figures of devotion. In Entrèves, the chapel of Sainte Barbe, founded in 1653 and rebuilt in 1793, is believed to protect miners and firefighters, credited with sparing the village from the devastating fire of 1794. At Moulin, the Sainte Anne chapel, dating from 1667, features a small bell tower that still chimes the hours. In Cloux, the chapel of Saint Laurent, built in 1650, was burned along with the village by French soldiers in 1794 and later reconstructed.
In Thovex, the chapel of Santa Lucia—originally dedicated to San Defendente—was intended to protect the village from avalanches and once housed the pump used to fight fires. The San Rocco chapel on Via Debernard, dating from 1630, was built to safeguard the community from disease following a plague brought by German soldiers.
Even in the high mountains, chapels can be found. At the Little St Bernard Pass, at 2,158 metres, lies the tomb of Abbot Pierre Chanoux, founder of the alpine botanical garden named Chanousia in his honour, who was buried here in 1909. Higher still, at around 2,500 metres, facing the Rutor Glacier, stands the chapel dedicated to San Grato and Santa Margherita, invoked for protection against avalanches and landslides, and a destination of devoted pilgrimage.