A three-metre statue stands above the bell tower, looking down on Aosta: the Valdostan sculptor Basil Thomasset carved it in 1863. Below it sits the chapel dedicated to Saint Gratus, bishop of Aosta in the fifth century, who by tradition withdrew up here to meditate, though the documents mention the building only from the thirteenth century.
What to see
The hermitage stands at 1,773 metres above the village of Péroulaz. It is a plain building, enlarged in 1754 and partly destroyed by an avalanche in April 1918. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries other hermits lived here in the warm season, among them François Lavy of Saint-Nicolas and Louis Prétel. For the Abbé Henry, Saint Gratus was the most imposing figure in Valdostan history, and this place explains him better than a biography.
Visiting
From Charvensod you walk up through the woods on path 102. To shorten it, take the Aosta-Pila cable car, which gets you almost to the same height and cuts most of the climb. On the night between 6 and 7 September La route des jeunes sets off from the church at Pila and ends here.
Our editors' tip
The statue is visible from Aosta, but the point works the other way round: from here you see the whole city and the plain. Come in the evening if you can, when the valley floor lights up and the shaded side stays dark.