Aosta Valley · Aosta Valley
Bard
A 108-person village under the largest Savoy fortress in the Alps, where 400 soldiers held off Napoleon's 40,000 for two weeks in 1800.
Known for
FORTE DI BARD
Three-tier Savoy fortress rebuilt 1830-1838 between 400 and 467 metres above the village, now Museo delle Alpi and exhibition complex.
1800 SIEGE
Around 400 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers held the older fort for two weeks against Napoleon's 40,000-strong Army of Reserve, delaying the descent on the Po Valley.
108 RESIDENTS
One of Italy's smallest Borghi più Belli, a single medieval street with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mansions and roughly a hundred people.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Assunzione di Maria, 15 August
Why come
Bard sits at the entrance of the Aosta Valley, a single medieval street wedged between the Dora Baltea river and a rocky prominence carrying one of the largest Savoy fortifications in the Alps. The current Forte di Bard was built by Charles Albert of Savoy between 1830 and 1838, on the site of a tenth-century castle that itself replaced a fifth-century structure attributed to Theodoric. In May 1800, the previous fortress held back Napoleon's 40,000-strong Army of Reserve with roughly 400 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers, delaying the surprise attack on the Po Valley by two weeks.
Napoleon ordered the fort demolished after he took it. The bullet holes from the 1800 siege are still visible on the façade of Palazzo Nicole. The historic village below holds elegant fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mansions along a single main street, with 108 people living among them. Since 2006, the fortress has reopened as the Museo delle Alpi.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Bard’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
Forte di Bard
Savoy fortress rebuilt by Charles Albert between 1830 and 1838 on three terraced levels, housing the Museo delle Alpi since 2006.
Museo delle Alpi
Permanent museum inside the fortress, dedicated to the Alps as a geographical, cultural and human space, with rotating contemporary art exhibitions.
Borgo medievale di Bard
Medieval village stretched along a single main street, lined with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mansions and noble houses below the fortress rock.
Palazzo Nicole
Sixteenth-century mansion on the main street, with bullet holes from the 1800 siege still visible on its façade.
Chiesa parrocchiale dell'Assunzione
Parish church of the borgo, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, rebuilt several times above the medieval village core.
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Living here
- Population 108
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Turin, 1 h 9 min drive
- Regional capital Aosta, 52 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 400 m
- Population: 108
- Surface area: 3.03 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
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