What is Aymavilles known for?

Castle on a thirteenth-century core, given its four corner towers by Aimone di Challant in the fourteenth century and a baroque overlay in the eighteenth. Roman aqueduct from 3 BC, single arch 56 metres above the Grand'Eyvia, with a covered pedestrian passage running beneath the water channel. Centre of the Torrette DOC, with the Cave des Onze Communes (1990) drawing on more than sixty hectares of terraced vineyards above the Dora Baltea.

Aymavilles is a comune in the province of Aosta Valley, Aosta Valley region of Italy, about 133 kilometers from Torino.

Aosta Valley · Aosta Valley

Aymavilles

Gateway to the Gran Paradiso at 646 metres, with a four-towered Challant castle and a 3 BC Roman aqueduct above the Grand'Eyvia.

646m

Elevation

133 km / 83 mi

Nearest hub (Torino)

2,096

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Aymavilles sits at 646 metres on the right bank of the Dora Baltea, eight kilometres west of Aosta, at the mouth of the Cogne Valley that leads up into the Gran Paradiso, Italy's first national park since 1922. The name traces back to Caius Avilius Caimus, the Roman from Padua who commissioned the Pont d'Aël in 3 BC: a single-arched aqueduct-bridge suspended 56 metres above the Grand'Eyvia torrent, with a covered pedestrian passage running beneath the water channel, still walkable today. The Castello di Aymavilles, on a rectangular thirteenth-century core, was fortified in the fourteenth century by Aimone di Challant with four corner towers, then softened in the eighteenth century with baroque decoration. Around the castle lie the terraced Torrette vineyards. The Cave des Onze Communes, opened in 1990 and the largest wine cooperative in the region, takes in over sixty hectares of fruit from this slope.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello di Aymavilles
Castle on a thirteenth-century rectangular core, fortified by Aimone di Challant in the fourteenth century with four corner towers, baroque decoration added in the eighteenth century.
Pont d'Aël
Roman aqueduct-bridge from 3 BC, single arch suspended 56 metres above the Grand'Eyvia torrent, with a covered pedestrian passage under the water channel.
Cave des Onze Communes
Largest wine cooperative in Valle d'Aosta, open since 1990, working over sixty hectares of vineyards around Sarre, Saint-Pierre, Introd and Aymavilles.
Vigneti del Torrette
Terraced vineyards on the slopes around the castle, the heart of the Torrette DOC red wine area, walkable by foot and by bicycle.
Ingresso Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso
Northern gateway to Italy's first national park (1922), with the road up the Cogne Valley starting just above the village toward the Gran Paradiso massif.
Chiesa parrocchiale di Saint-Léger
Parish church in the centre of the village, dedicated to Saint Leodegar, with a Romanesque bell tower preserved from the medieval church.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October is the main window in Aymavilles. May greens the Torrette terraces and reopens the road up the Cogne Valley into the Gran Paradiso. June through September is the peak hiking and castle-visit season, with the Pont d'Aël walkway open and the cooperative cellar pouring tastings of Torrette and the white Petite Arvine. September and October bring the harvest. November through April is quiet. Snow rarely sticks at 646 metres on the valley floor, but the road into Cogne climbs fast and conditions change. The castle reopened in 2022 after a long restoration and now runs winter weekend visits.