The parish church of Valtournenche was built in 1420, replacing a chapel of 1412: eight years between the two, which says how fast the community had grown. The bell tower, standing apart from the church, came much later.
What to see
The church has a rectangular plan with three naves and the appearance given to it by the rebuilding of 1854, after the deep alterations of the nineteenth century. The decoration is the work of Mazzini, except for the high altarpiece, painted by Stornone. The high altar is in polychrome marble, with tabernacle and ciborium of the same date as the rebuilding; two further altars survive, almost identical to each other, in carved, painted and partly gilded wood, with four twisted columns of different sizes separated by a cornice.
Visiting
The bell tower was raised between 1760 and 1763 at the wish of the parish priest Jean-Jacques Perruquet, who also gave the largest bell. It stands detached from the church, as often happens in Valdostan parishes, and is visible from far off as you come up the valley.
Our editors' tip
This is the village church, not a monument with a ticket queue: ten minutes inside is enough, and the two wooden altars are worth the stop more than the nineteenth-century decoration.