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.
Known for
FOUR-TOWERED CASTLE
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.
PONT D'AËL
Roman aqueduct from 3 BC, single arch 56 metres above the Grand'Eyvia, with a covered pedestrian passage running beneath the water channel.
TORRETTE
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.
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Cristo Re, 24 November
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.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Aymavilles’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
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.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 2,096
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Turin, 1 h 43 min drive
- Regional capital Aosta, 22 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 646 m
- Population: 2,096
- Surface area: 53.24 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Aymavilles
Cogne
Province: Aosta Valley
The mining town turned capital of the Gran Paradiso, the Aosta Valley's largest commune with 95 percent of its land inside Italy's oldest park.
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The Italian base of Mont Blanc, a Roman waystation on the Via delle Gallie that became the country's highest commune and its best-known ski address.
Châtillon
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The Aosta Valley's three-castle commune — a 4,358-resident town at 549m at the mouth of the Valtournenche where it meets the main valley, with the Castello Gamba (now the Valle d'Aosta regional contemporary art museum), the medieval Castello di Ussel + the Renaissance Castello Passerin d'Entrèves, and direct access up the road to the Cervino/Matterhorn at Cervinia 26 km north.
Saint-Vincent
Province: Aosta Valley
The Aosta Valley's belle-époque thermal town — a 4,400-resident commune on a sunny south-facing terrace at 575m with the Fonte Salée mineral spring (in use since 1770), the Casinò de la Vallée (Italy's second-largest legal casino since 1947), and the Matterhorn peak visible north of town.
Fénis
Province: Aosta Valley
Italy's most photographed medieval castle — the Castello di Fénis (14th-c, Challant family) with its double-ring of crenellated walls, eight cylindrical towers, and frescoed inner courtyard sits at the centre of a 1,770-resident Aostan commune 18 km east of Aosta, with the Valle di Clavalité Apennine reserve climbing south to 3,000m.
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