The Romanesque bell tower of the church of the Madeleine counts among the finest in the Aosta Valley, and the facade still carries a fresco of 1453. The church, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, stands east of the castle of Tour de Villa, a few minutes on foot, in the middle of the apple orchards.
What to see
La Magdeleine was one of the three ancient parishes of Gressan, along with Saint-Jean de Chevrot and Saint-Étienne: the first two were later suppressed, and the black crosses on the comune's coat of arms are there to remember them, while the red cross stands for Saint-Étienne, the only one of the three still in use. The bell tower remains the part worth the trip: those crosses on Valdostan bell towers, topped by the cockerel as a symbol of vigilance, are a recurring feature of the valley.
Our editors' tip
Fold it into the walk between the castle of Tour de Villa and the tower of La Plantaz: three stops within a kilometre that together tell the medieval story of Gressan better than any single monument.
