Gressoney and the Walser

The wooden houses of the Walser people

In the Lys valley, which climbs towards the glaciers of Monte Rosa, the villages of Gressoney-Saint-Jean and Gressoney-La-Trinité are the home of the Walser, an ancient people of Germanic origin who, from the thirteenth century, emigrated from the Valais, in Switzerland, crossing the Alpine passes to settle in the highest and most inhospitable valleys around Monte Rosa, where they cleared woods and created pastures. Even today, the Walser of Gressoney preserve their language, the "Titsch", an ancient Alemannic German dialect, their traditional costume, with the red dress and the golden headdress of the women, and their customs, while place names and road signs are trilingual, in Italian, French and Titsch.

The most characteristic sign of their culture is their architecture: the Walser houses, built of larch wood on a stone base, with wide wooden balconies for drying hay and rye, and especially the "Stadel", the barns raised on "mushrooms" of stone, wooden pillars topped by round stone slabs that prevented mice from climbing up and ruining the crops. Many of these houses, some several centuries old, can still be seen in the hamlets of the valley, such as Ecko and Tschaval. In Gressoney-La-Trinité, the Walser Ecomuseum shows a traditional house with its furniture and tools. The Walserweg, a long-distance trail, connects the Walser settlements of the Alps. In winter, Gressoney is part of the Monterosa Ski area, connected with Champoluc and Alagna.

Tip: walk among the hamlets of Gressoney-La-Trinité to see the old Stadel; visit the Walser ecomuseum.

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