Oulx, Metropolitan city of Turin, Piedmont, Italy

Oulx is an Italian town in the metropolitan city of Turin, in Piedmont. Immense skiing areas offer an exceptional welcome, activities, services and events for enthusiasts of winter and summer sports. Bardonecchia, Cesana-Sansicario, Clavière, Pragelato, Sauze d’Oulx and Sestriere these ski resorts that were home to the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics form the main tourist area of Turin’s province.

Oulx stands on a plateau in the center of the Alta Val di Susa, in the confluence area between the Dora Riparia and the Dora di Bardonecchia, about 75 kilometers west of Turin and 25 from Susa. Located on the slopes of Mount Cotolivier (2,105 m), it is dominated to the north by the imposing peak of Seguret (2,926 m) and is located just downstream from the famous ski resort of Sauze d’Oulx, to which it is connected by a provincial road.

A short distance from the town, starting from via Pellousieres, you will find Lake Borello, also known as the pond of Oulx, a very peculiar wetland as it coexists animal and plant species typical of both the Alpine area and the plain. A former peat and clay extraction quarry used for the construction of the Frejus railway tunnel in 1860, it was then abandoned and then invaded by groundwater outcropping at the base of the Cotolivier. However, currently, due to the progressive deposits of organic material, the pond is being buried. To protect this particular and evocative place, the Province of Turin established in 2004a small provincial park, the Riserva dello Pagno di Oulx, which covers an area of 82 hectares extending between 1,063 and 1,249 meters above sea level.

History
The first settlements
Finds from the pre-Celtic period at Soubras tell us that the first settlements in the Oulx area are very remote, even if the village arose later, in Roman times. There is no documentation until 900 AD, according to the tradition of the Saracen raids throughout the Susa valley. It is precisely in the fight against them that St. Justus of Novalesa was killed, rushed to Oulx with his brother San Flaviano, in defense of the population from his refuge in Beaulard.

The first men entered our valley about five thousand years ago. The only traces left by our ancestors are stone tools such as greenish axes, found in the Plan hamlet of Oulx, where a bronze pin was also found (contained in a skull of a skeleton enclosed in a stone tomb), perhaps belonging to the Hallstatt civilization (800-500 BC).

In the period from the years in which the aforementioned lithic tools were built, almost no trace remains of this pin. Almost certainly the first men who settled in this valley were Ligurians or, according to other scholars, protocelts who had already begun to use the Montgenevre pass for travel and trade. After 500 BC the Celtic hordes of Belloveso passed this pass (it is said that he also founded Milan and some cities in northern Italy) and probably imposed his law also in Valsusa: this involved a radical change for the local populations that were superimposed by the new and more advanced Celtic tribes. Perhaps Cesana or Oulx became the capital of an Alpine kingdom that stretched from Monviso to Mount Levanna, extending over the valleys of Pinerolo, Susa and Lanzo.

Roman period
At the time of the passage of Julius Caesar in 58 BC the tribes that at that time inhabited the valley were under the dominion of King Donno, father of Cozio (who gave his name to the Alps of the same name, at the time Alpes Cottiae) who was reduced under Augustus to the obedience of Rome in 13 BC. The latter erected a temple dedicated to Mars in Oulx (perhaps in memory of his victory over Cozio). From this moment this village began to call itself with the name of Ad Martis. According to others, the name of the town derives from the name “Ocleum”, a name that the Celts attributed to a city of great importance and which in turn derives from Ucellus (Eccelso), the name of a Celtic deity.

Since then Oulx became a real daily stops where there were public buildings equipped to give hospitality to the emperor and at least part of his entourage where a police force was stationed that had the task to monitor road traffic and to combat banditry. Among the characters who stayed in this country we remember Caligula in 40 AD returning from his Nordic campaign, Hannibal in the autumn of 218 BC and Galba (the first to reign in the year of the four emperors, 69 AD, followed by Othon, Vitellius and Vespasian) in 1968 on his way to Rome to put an end to Nero’s rule (15 December 37 – 6 June 68, great-grandson of Augustus).

In 70 he passed through Oulx Petillio Ceriale leading his troops sent by Vespasiano to tame the revolt of Giulio Civile in Gaul. In the middle of the third century AD the valley sided with Gallieno (famous for his army reform) who stayed in Oulx to comfort and reorganize his garrison. After a little over twenty years the town hosted the Emperor Maximilian during a winter crossing of the Cottian Alps. The latter’s system of government was destined to fail very soon, but Constantine passed through the Monginevro pass.

It is known that Susa, linked to Maxentius, Constantine’s rival, opposed and was besieged and then burned. Probably Oulx, having no defensive walls, sent his troops to Susa to try to block the way to the new emperor. It is not possible to know, due to lack of information, whether Oulx suffered any reprisals for the circumstance, even if some repercussions occurred during the period in which Constantine I came to power. The edict of Milan of 313 AD, which granted freedom of worship in the empire and with which the persecutions against Christians ended, laid the foundations for the Christianization of the temple dedicated to Mars.

In the hamlet of San Marco, where today a chapel stands, traces of a necropolis were found above which a shrine dedicated to the god of war was probably erected. This Christianization encountered many obstacles before establishing itself as a religion due to the harshness of the mountaineers who were very attached to Druidic traditions. But the Christianization of Oulx and its valleys intensified after the episcopal see of Turin was erected, and St. Ambrose sent his disciple St. Maximus there, except that the barbarians were increasingly pressing on the weak borders. Our valley was among the first lands to be involved in the disorder. Around 402, bands of Goth raiders headed for Montgenèvre were seen passing through the streets of the town. Towards the middle of the 5th century the hordes of the Huns passed and then the victorious militias of Aetius,

Dark age
After this period Oulx was subjected to periods of looting and devastation alternating with periods of peace; wars were joined by famines and plagues. In 574 the Lombards passed and Susa was fortified by Sisinnio who then governed the valley in the name of the emperor of Byzantium, but he could do nothing to defend the valley, which was left at the mercy of the invaders. After Sisinnio’s death, King Gontranno of Burgundy took over the valley and erected a new diocese with a double episcopal see: one in Susa and the other in St. Jean de Maurienne. Oulx, together with the other villages in the valley, thus passed under the new bishop.

Almost nothing is known about the following centuries, also because the struggles of the Lombards against the papacy and the Merovingian dynasty in France held the valley in a vice. The days of the intense traffic that animated the Via Coziana were over, even if a remnant of a station entrusted to priests and religious survived in Oulx. After all, brigandage dominated the valley and the town was surrounded by bands of robbers who attacked the villages (think for example of the Ebrado band, vanquished only in 773 perhaps in Exilles with the arrival of Charlemagne).

But from 618 some disciples of the monk Jonas during a stop in Oulx caused an imposing religious awakening among the humble and succeeded, at least in part, in humanizing the ferocious customs of the Merovingian court. In 726, Abo, governor of Susa and Moriana, founded the Novalesa which was in economic and spiritual relations with Oulx (it can also be deduced from a document in which, a certain Unnone, donated his assets located in Oulx to the monastery). The foundation of this monastery gave a boost to the economy of the valley but at the same time contributed to the decline of Oulx and in general of the upper valley by “diverting” most of the traffic directed to Montgenèvre towards the new Mont Cenis pass (also called ” The great pass ”), a favorite throughout the Middle Ages.

Middle Ages
A period of Hungarian and Saracen raids followed. Later, in 906, the novaliciensi monks fled first to Turin and then to Breme, and the Saracens entered the valley, whose invasion was more strongly felt in Oulx. For more than half of the 10th century the Saracens dominated the valley which slowly became depopulated. Towards the end of the century the invaders perched on the passes and at other obligatory passages to rob merchants and pilgrims, as well as illustrious personalities such as bishops and abbots. Perhaps the tower (which tradition later called the “Saracen Tower”, more detailed in the Monuments section) of Oulx was one of these checkpoints.

At the beginning of the year 1000 the bishop of Sisteron, Giraldo, founded a religious community at Ulcium, which was recognized by the bishop Cuniberto who attributed tithes and churches to it. Ulcium belongs to the nascent Dauphiné, it is the seat of the Provost of San Lorenzo with an adjoining convent and is gaining importance: two popes, Urban II and Callisto II will enrich it with various donations. The provost of Oulx enjoys considerable prerogatives. Until the year in which it was suppressed, 1749, the Provost remains a fundamental point of religious power in the Western Alps. In the 12th century, Oulx also became an important administrative and commercial center whose interests clashed with those of the abbot of Susa and Delfino.

The Dauphiné
Towards the middle of the 10th century, Otto I, the German restorer of the Holy Roman Empire, gave new hope to the inhabitants not only of the area, but of all of Europe. In our valley this work was carried out by the Marquis Arduino known as il Glabro, who, having settled in Avigliana, rebuilt churches and founded monasteries in Valsusa. His mission was resumed by his successors. Oulx began to flourish and resumed its ancient importance. The churches of San Lorenzo and San Pietro rose again, perhaps born with the first Christians. At the death of Adelaide (1091) the Upper Valley practically belonged to the Lords of Beyond (the Dolphins). This did not harm Oulx’s fate and perhaps even favored its awakening and growth. Pilgrims and travelers returned to find comfort and refreshment.

With the Magna Carta, a document signed by the bishop of Turin (30 April 1065) Cuniberto, the just recognition for the sacrifices was rewarded, the Prevostura Ulciense, known as S.Lorenzo de Pleme Martyrum (Pieve dei Martiri), was officially consecrated. donated forty-one churches to the new Pievania (including that of San Giovanni Battista in Cesana, San Gregorio in Savoulx, San Michele in Beaulard, S. Maria and S.Ippolito in Bardonecchia and that of Salbertrand, but also some of Bussoleno, Bruzolo Mattie, Foresto).

The history of Oulx between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries is deeply linked to the vicissitudes of the parish priest, who became increasingly powerful from an economic point of view. A significant event of this fact may be the violent clash with stone throwing that occurred when the religious commissioned the construction of a new dam to prevent the overflow of the dora: the people, on the contrary, argued that in the event of a flood the adjacent plains would be flooded. To suppress the revolt, the religious brought the Blessed Sacrament to the site of the works: the population stopped hostilities and the dam was brought to an end. The crisis that led to the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the modern age marked the history of Oulx. the population stopped hostilities and the dam was completed. The crisis that led to the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the modern age marked the history of Oulx. the population stopped hostilities and the dam was completed. The crisis that led to the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the modern age marked the history of Oulx.

In 1183 the Dauphin Ugo personally came to the village to collect the bounties, an event that was bearable after all. On the other hand, the case of the debt collectors and inquisitors was different, increasingly arrogant and greedy, so much so that at a certain point the populations of the Upper Valley and the Brianzonese began a rebellion where there was bloodshed. In 1343 the Dauphin Umberto II summoned the representatives of the individual communities to the castle of Beauvoir en Royans. The Dauphin ratified and confirmed the rights, franchises, ancient local customs and habits and extended some freedoms in exchange for 12,000 florins. From this experience the federations between the various communities were born, which were later called “escarton”. Oulx became the center of the escarton, complete with its deputies elected by universal suffrage in the Delfinale parliament of Grenoble.

A few years later, Umberto II retired to a Dominican convent and on March 30, 1349 (treaty of Romans) the Dauphiné passed to the crown of France (albeit with some contrasts). The French border passed between Gravere and Chiomonte until, the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, returned the Upper Susa Valley to the Savoy. With the passage of Charles VIII (headed for the Kingdom of Naples) and his army, the inhabitants of Oulx obtained, as “compensation” for the damage caused by the troops, the permission to establish a “fair fair” in their own town, that is, exempt from taxes. The transit of French troops led by Francesco I directed to Lombardy in Oulx caused violence, banditry, plague and riots of all kinds, so much so that a military hospital was founded. The new religious current which by now had conquered France, Calvinism, it also spread in Valsusa, coming into conflict with Christianity. Only in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes, which conferred freedom of worship, the clashes subsided.

Republic of the Escartons
From the need for greater independence, a new administrative experience was born in 1343, that of the Escartons. Oulx, the Briançonnais, the Val Chisone, the Valle Varaita and the Queyras are associated and administered independently, paying their liberation to the Delfino Umberto II, who, however, in 1349, with the treaty of Romans stipulated with Philip of Valois, to the crown of France all the Dauphiné, including Oulx. The experience of the Escartons, who are named after the escarton tax they have to pay to the Dolphin every year, continues until1713 and is, with the Swiss cantons, a rare example of Alpine administrative autonomy. With the thinning of the transit towards Provence during the Renaissance, the country loses importance. However, it still remains autonomous Escarton. In this period the Monginevro pass assumes greater importance for the transit of troops towards Italy.

A troubled and difficult period for Oulx and the entire upper Susa Valley begins with the sixteenth century. The wars of religion between Catholics and Waldensians led to the fire and the sacking of the Provost by the Waldensians in July 1562, the war between France and Spain did not grant truce until the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559). During the 16th century, local populations were also decimated by plagues. There are numerous pillars and chapels dedicated to San Rocco, protector against the plague. Oulx concludes his experience as Escarton in 1713when, with the treaty of Utrecht, Oulx and the Susa valley with the upper Val Chisone and Casteldelfino in Val Varaita passed to Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoia.

The Savoy
Still transits of French troops during the war of the Austrian succession, but this time the French are stopped by the Piedmontese at the Assietta hill. Subsequently, the Treaty of Aachen (1748) marks the beginning of a period of peace that will last about half a century. The effects of the French Revolution are also felt in Oulx, where the trees of Liberty are planted, one of which still lives on the provincial road to Sauze.

In the Abaziale house on April 28, 1799 Pope Pius VI was hosted on the road to exile. During the 19th century, Oulx and its Valley will follow the fate of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the event that will radically change the economy and local customs will be the Frejus railway tunnel completed on 25 December 1870. Oulx, despite the passing of centuries, still retains the old tripartite structure: Vière, Plan and Abadia. Over the last century, after the boom of the railway era, individual mass motorization will be the engine of economic and commercial exchange, as well as the main factor in tourist flows.

During the Risorgimento Luigi Des Ambrois (1807 – 1874) lived and worked in Oulx, Carlo Alberto’s Minister of the Interior and then of Public Works and later President of the Senate of the Kingdom. An important and significant event is the opening of the Frejus railway tunnel in 1871, when the first international train passes. In 1872 the corps of the Alpine troops was founded in Oulx.

From the 1900s
At the start of the Second World War, the attack starts from the ridges between Chaberton and Valle Stretta and in the Desertes area. The signs of the clashes are still visible on Punta Clotesse and on the Grand’Hoche as well as in the mountains of Oulx there are still bunkers, Friesian horses and often unexploded ordnance.

During Fascism the name of Oulx was Italianized into Ulzio, while the town grew, incorporated the hamlets and became the seat of the Magistrate’s Court. In 1960 it resumes its original name.

Villages
Heart of the Upper Susa Valley, Oulx still preserves considerable historical vestiges, especially in the Borgo Superiore, along the paved road that climbs towards Sauze d’Oulx. Farther away, near the railway station stands the Abadia: the current church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1886) was built on the remains (10th century) of the Prevostura di San Lorenzo di Oulx, initially an oratory dependent on the Novalesa Abbey with the name of Plebs Martyrum, later Augustinian canonicate erected to the rank of Prevostura, a semi-autonomous body that controlled most of the churches in the Susa, Chisone and Brianzonese (now French) valleys and subject to the Diocese of Turin. The complex consisting of numerous buildings, according to studies presented a main church of Romanesque construction with architectural ambitions worthy of the rank of this institution, with a rare dome on an octagonal lantern. The Provost was seriously damaged by floods, wars of religion and a fire at the end of the 16th century; restored in 1609, it collapsed in 1854 and was then rebuilt in its current, much simpler form.

In the upper village worthy of note is the Torre Delfinale (or Torre dei Saraceni) (14th century), recently restored, while at the top of the village, on the road to Sauze d’Oulx, is the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta from the 15th century, extensively remodeled in 1862. Also known as Viére, the Borgo Superiore preserves numerous historic buildings of the noble and bourgeois families of this alpine center.

In addition to the Piazza Mistral collection, along the main street (named after the Des Ambrois family who owned two palaces here) there are: the covered public fountain; the fifteenth-century Casa Gally (with a façade on wooden doors, a beautiful stone portal and a cross window on the side); the two Des Ambrois palaces; a house with a balcony (17th century); the Bermond House.

In the lower village, called Plan, the Dolphin Fountain in Piazza Garambois is noteworthy, inspiring the fountain reproduced in the nineteenth-century medieval village of Turin and the sixteenth-century Palazzo del Capitano La Cazette, with cross windows in stone and a door with an epigraph. Numerous houses and historical-architectural sites are illustrated through the panels of the ” Path Des Ambrois “, created for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

In the hamlets, in addition to the remains of the Beaulard castle, the churches of Beaulard, Chateau Beaulard, Puy Beaulard, Royeres, Signols, Savoulx, Refour are protected: some of them have splendid frescoes.

Amazas hamlet
Amazas is located at 1180 meters above sea level next to the state road 24 of Monginevro from which the road branches off which, crossing a bridge over the Dora di Cesana, reaches it on the left orographic side. Together with Soubras and Vazon it constitutes the Adrèi, the right. The houses maintain the typical mountain architecture and, among these, the ancient community oven can still be visited. The small church is dedicated to Sant’Andrea and is from the 17th century.

Beaulard hamlet
Beaulard is located at the bottom of the valley along the Dora di Bardonecchia at 1175 meters above sea level, dominated by the bulk of the Grand’Hoche massif. It has a railway station (the lowest place in the hamlet, 1145 meters) and, until the bankruptcy of the cableway company, which occurred in the mid-1990s, was a winter sports center. The Romanesque church of San Michele Arcangelo (1210 meters), one of the oldest in the Upper Valley, dating back to the 11th century, is very valuable.

Beaume hamlet
Beaume is a small village located at the foot of Mount Seguret, at 1098 meters above sea level. The 1874 fountain and the small church dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena are characteristic. Near the Beaume there is a beautiful cave where it is believed there was an apparition of the Madonna. photo depicting the small church dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena in the Beaume hamlet of the municipality of Oulx Along the connecting road between the capital and the hamlet, there are the Pra Lon campsite, the sports fields and the Turin-Bardonecchia motorway junction.

Chateau hamlet
Chateau-Beaulard is located at 1387 meters above sea level on a large terrace overlooking the Bardonecchia valley, protected by a spike that rises in front of the town. The parish church dedicated to San Bartolomeo Apostolo, dating back to 1493, with a bell tower in the dolphin style and a magnificent portal dating back to 1690 with the sculpted architrave of 1740, is worthy of note; inside there is a valuable baroque altarpiece, while a wooden relief showing the Mass of San Gregorio Magno and dating back to the 15th century was stolen in 1976. Starting point for excursions to the Rey Refuge and the Grand’Hoche massif.

Constans hamlet
Constans reaches, in the upper part, 1180 meters of altitude. The chapel dedicated to San Bernardo houses a beautiful altarpiece in polychrome carved wood; on the facade it shows the date of 1720 but it is much older. The village is surrounded by some votive pillars. On the entrance of the Rousset house, next to the fountain, you can see an episcopal emblem as the archbishop of Reggio Calabria Camillo Rousset was born here in 1860 as well as the bishop of Ventimiglia Agostino Rousset.

Fraction Gad
Gad is located downstream of the capital at 1068 meters above sea level. In the vicinity of the hamlet, during the works for the construction of the Frejus motorway, a fairly large lake was formed; behind the lake there is still a partially active military polygon used by the Taurinense Alpine Brigade. Fraction Gad is the starting point of the Path of the Franks. In Gad there is a shopping center and a camping site.

Les Auberges hamlet
Auberges is divided into three villages located on the slopes of Mount Seguret, between 1324 and 1490 meters above sea level. Inhabited until the first half of the twentieth century, Auberges preserves a small church dedicated to San Giovanni Evangelista, on whose facade the date of 1767 appears.

Monfol hamlet
Monfol was once the summer pasture of the hamlet of Gad, where the cattle were raised in the summer season. It is located at 1666 meters above sea level. photo depicting the chapel of San Bartolomeo in the Monfol hamlet of the municipality of Oulx The chapel is dedicated to San Bartolomeo. Two casemates merge between the houses which had the task of guarding the military road that leads to the top and reaches Assietta. Today it is the gateway to the Gran Bosco di Salbertrand Park.

Pierremenaud hamlet
Pierremenaud is a small village located at 1442 meters above sea level, to the right, on the slopes of Mount Cotolovier. It dominates Oulx and has a beautiful view of Sauze d’Oulx and the valley. It has a small fountain from 1835. The church dedicated to Sant’Antonio da Padova bears the date of 1711.

Puy hamlet
Puy is a magnificent village reachable from Beaulard, located on a small plateau at 1400 meters above sea level. The church, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, is dedicated to San Giovanni Battista and preserves some paintings and dismembered parts of a wooden ancona dating back to the seventeenth century.

Royeres hamlet
Royeres is located on the border with the territory of the Municipality of Bardonecchia, next to the State Road and the railway, at 1198 meters above sea level. The nineteenth-century chapel of the village is dedicated to San Sebastiano and San Rocco.

San Marco hamlet
San Marco is a small village located on the Provincial Road to Sauze d’Oulx, at 1212 meters above sea level. Once the town was a place of passage on the ancient Strada di Francia which, after climbing from Oulx, crossed it to head towards Amazas and Cesana.

In 1562 it was the scene of a bloody battle between Catholics and Waldensians during the Wars of Religion. photo depicting the chapel of San Marco, the fountain and the lime tree of liberty located in the hamlet of San Marco in the municipality of Oulx It was the birthplace of the Waldensian shepherd Claude Perron.

The chapel dedicated to San Marco is already mentioned in the Bull of Bishop Cuniberto of 1065; it retains a beautiful baroque altarpiece and traces of a 16th century fresco are visible on the external walls. Next to the chapel there is a magnificent sixteenth-century fountain and the lime tree of liberty dating back to the years of the French Revolution. Three beautiful nineteenth-century sundials show off on the walls of the village.

Savoulx hamlet
Savoulx is part of the municipality of Oulx, since 1928 when the autonomous municipality was suppressed. Savoulx is located at the bottom of the valley along the Dora di Bardonecchia at 1120 meters above sea level.

The parish church of San Gregorio Magno, from 1451, dominates the town with its slender bell tower in the typical Dauphiné style; the sixteenth-century portal is carved with friezes with letters and floral motifs; inside there are three wooden sculptures of particular value: a Madonna with child, a Pietà and a figure of San Sisto Papa.

Signols hamlet
Signols is located along the state road to Bardonecchia at 1105 meters above sea level. The small church dedicated to San Sisto Papa stands next to the fountain of bitter water from 1866. photo depicting the church of San Sisto Papa in the Signols hamlet of the municipality of OulxHere were the quarry and the plaster factory; today there are still several farmers who tend fields and meadows and raise cows and sheep.

Soubras hamlet
Soubras is located on the sunny side, at 1480 meters above sea level, connected by an ancient mule track with Amazas, it is now reachable by a carriage road from Pierremenaud. It has an enviable position, set on a large terrace of lawns. The small church of San Rocco bears the date of 1827. A small building, the rectory, shows on the façade two valuable frescoes in poor conservation conditions, one of which represents the image of the tree of life. Near the hamlet there is the church of San Barnaba which stands in a place where a pre-Roman necropolis was found in the 19th century.

Vazon hamlet
Vazon is located on the right side, at an altitude of 1650 meters on the slopes of Cotolovier. Surrounded by large lawns, it has a lovely fountain bearing the date of 1857, covered by a large wooden shingle canopy. The church dedicated to the Madonna delle Nevi bears the date of 1710.

Villard hamlet
Villard is located upstream of Royeres at 1359 meters above sea level.The chapel of the small village bears the date of 1683 and is dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate and Sant’Antonio da Padova. The two saints are portrayed in the large altar canvas embellished with a Baroque frame made up of scrolls and gilded angels. Characteristic is the small oven still used on the occasion of the Scapular Fair or the Franca Fair of Oulx every year people from all over the valley and even from further afield met. They spoke in patois and understood each other even if there were differences in speech. Each recognized the place of origin of the others by their way of speaking. Patois with all its differences and peculiarities comes largely from Latin and is part of the Gallo-Romance languages. It is called Occitan, Occitan language, or rather Occitan Provencal Alpine, for us it is indifferent: it is always our patois.

Via Francigena
The village of Oulx and the hamlet of Gad were important transit and rest points for pilgrims on the historical route of the Via Francigena coming from Colle del Monginevro, which then continues towards Salbertrand and Exilles and through Susa heads to Rivoli and Turin.

Franca Fair
The “Franca Fair” is held every year in Oulx, reaching its 525th edition in 2019. The event has its roots in 1494, when the country was crossed by the armies of Charles VIII marching towards the Kingdom of Naples. The population had to make great sacrifices to provide food and fodder to the militias and as a reward the sovereign granted Oulx to hold an annual “franca” fair at the end of the summer, ie exempt from foreign taxes.

More recently it was decided to organize the Franca Fair every year on the first Sunday of October: on that date the fair enlivens the town with exhibitions, stalls, animals, food and wine products.

Surrounding

Bardonecchia
Lying in a sunny basin, surrounded by splendid mountains that exceed 3000 meters, Bardonecchia is one of the most evocative corners of the western Alps. A well-known ski resort since the 1900s, it was the seat of the snowboard competitions of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

It is a charming location in constant evolution where tradition and modernity blend perfectly. Bardonecchia offers an infinite number of alternatives for those who love walking and mountain biking in the mountains: paths, mule tracks and military roads. The wide variety of trails available adapts to the needs of all enthusiasts: for those who simply love walking, for the attentive hiker, for the most demanding mountaineer.

Along sunny itineraries and walks through the fir and larch woods you can reach the most famous peaks of Bardonecchia such as the Red Spire, the Val Fredda, the Tre Croci, the Sommeiller glacier, Mount Tabor and the Pierre Menue peaks with the possibility of pleasant stops in the alpine refuges and at the numerous mountain pastures. The summer season is full of events for all ages in the name of nature, relaxation, music, theater, culture and much more for an unforgettable holiday.

Cesana Torinese
An exclusive location in a strategic position, Cesana Torinese is one of the access points to the Vialattea, a very famous ski area that boasts 400 kilometers of trails. The hamlets San Sicario Borgo and Champlas Seguin are typical alpine villages among woods and majestic peaks, that of San Sicario Alto, located on the edge of the ski slopes, is a convenient location for those who want to practice alpine skiing and return to the hotel on skis. at the feet. From Cesana Torinese you can easily reach still unspoiled valleys where you can go hiking through woods and peaks with snowshoes or mountaineering skis.

There are endless possibilities for excursions on foot, by bike and on horseback even in summer, from the ascent of Mount Chaberton to excursions to the Monti della Luna and Val Thuras. Cesana Torinese is also located on the historical route of the Via Francigena. The two roads that connect it to Colle del Sestriere are famous and have been the scene of great cycling companies during the passages of the Giro d’Italia and which each year host the “Cesana-Sestriere”, a competition valid for the European Historic Car Championship.

Claviere
Point of conjunction between the Italian and French sides of the Vialattea ski area, Claviere offers an enchanting scenery of immaculate snow under the severe Chaberton massif which, with its 3131 meters, dominates the valley. The ideal place to relax in structures created for the well-being of those who practice sports or those who have made pleasure their favorite discipline. Since 1923, the Claviere sports offer includes a golf coursewith 9 holes that become 18 thanks to the possibility of continuing the course on the green of Montgenèvre. The naturalistic itineraries, to be covered on foot or by bicycle, along the Rio Secco, the Piccola Dora and the Rio Gimont allow you to easily approach the flora and fauna of the valley floor, while the new “suspended” paths, equipped along the Gorge di San Gervasio, transform the exciting experience of the Tibetan bridge and via ferrata into a path of discovery of the alpine geological variety and the wild beauty of little-known areas. The Claviere Tibetan Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world, 544 meters, at a height of about 30 meters from the ground.

Pragelato
Pragelato is a tourist center of great importance in the heart of the Alta Val Chisone, connected to the Vialattea ski area via a cable car and a special slope. Thanks to the Olympic slope and the wonderful tracks that allow you to ski in the astonishing silence and suggestive landscapes of the Val Troncea Park, Pragelato is a real cross-country skiing capital. Summer does not have to invent anything but simply offer itself in its natural resources: trail running in the early morning or at sunset through the streets of the hamlets, hiking on the peaks, thematic trails within the Val Troncea Park. There are also more structured sporting proposals such as golf than in the suggestive Plan and Pattemouche course, at the entrance to Val Troncea, an ideal destination for having fun on a mountain bike or horseback riding.

Salbertrand
Salbertrand is already mentioned in the diplomas and documents of the eleventh century, it develops thanks to the crossing of the ancient road of France. The parish church of San Giovanni Battista is one of the most important sacred buildings in the upper Val Susa with a porch and a stone portal by the stonecutter Matteo Rude of Melezet. The interior is richly decorated with frescoes dating from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The Salbertrand mountain has a wooded side full of fir trees which are the heart of the Gran Bosco di Salbertrand Natural Park which extends on the north-facing slope of the upper Val Susa. Inside the park, the Colombano Romean Ecomuseum presents a circular route that includes: the hydraulic mill, the school of the past, the common oven of the Oulme hamlet, the ancient charcoal cellar and the lime kiln, the nineteenth-century icebox with the there is an adjoining water supply pond and a smoke-sauna.

Sauze d’Oulx
The bustling tourist offer of Sauze d’Oulx embraces the day like the night. Here it is possible to enjoy the snow-covered slopes but also to go dancing, drinking with friends and dining in a warm and welcoming refuge. Called “the balcony of the Alps” for its dominant position, it is the most sparkling center of the Vialattea, where fashions and trends are born.

The Chalet del Lago Nero, designed by Carlo Mollino, is considered one of the finest examples of 20th – century Alpine architecture and is now home to initiatives related to the Grinzane Civiltà della Montagna Award. The parish church of San Giovanni Battista dates back to the 16th century, with a pseudo- Romanesque bell tower; inside it preserves a baptismal font in green stone (which bears the coat of arms of the Dauphins of France) and an eighteenth-century wooden ancon from the school of Mélezet. On the bell tower stands a very high central spire with an octagonal section. In the hamlet of Jouvenceaux there is the chapel of Sant’Antonio Abate, with frescoes from the 15th – 16th centuries, attributed to the school of the Serra brothers.

The walks through the meadows covered with flowers, the excursions on foot altitude or bicycle, picnics in the open air will make your summer holiday unforgettable, like enjoying the sun and fresh air in full relaxation or taking part in one of the activities or the many organized events. The summer season in Sauze d’Oulx runs from mid-June to early September but, even in the months of May, September and October, the town offers fantastic excursions on foot and by bike in the coniferous woods or on the watershed ridges between the Valle di Susa and Chisone or by motorbike along the dense network of white and military roads that cross the Alta Val Susa.

Sestriere
At the center of the international scene since the 1930s, Sestriere is equipped with all the comforts and entertainment of a modern tourist destination: the sports offer is remarkable , the shopping is refined , and the entertainment is extremely varied . A very popular worldly place that keeps all its charm intact thanks to the amazing alpine scenery that surrounds it.

Theater of numerous international competitions, Sestriere offers snow lovers slopes at the highest technical levelimmersed in a landscape of suggestive beauty. The station regularly hosts events of the Alpine Skiing World Cup even if the most prestigious moment was when it was chosen to host the men’s alpine skiing competitions on the occasion of the 2006 Turin Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games. The two towers (red and white) that dominate the skyline have become the symbol of the country; they were built in 1930 at the behest of the founder of FIAT, Giovanni Agnelli, with the aim of providing a vacation spot for the workers of the FIAT factory in Turin. Sestriere is not just a winter ski resort; in summer it is possible to play golf on the highest 18-hole course in Europe and to go on excursions by bike and on foot.