Churches and shrines: Arnad

The Church of San Martino is located in the chief town of Arnad-Le-Vieux. The current building has a trapezoidal layout, with three naves that preserve a roof made of Gothic, low pointed cross vaults. The pillars support large arches that rest on capitals. The facade has a central tuff portal from the 15th century, decorated with a keel-shaped arch, representing two intertwined tree trunks with an overhead rose window. There are slender, single mullioned windows. The bell-tower, with a square shape, has a high, pyramid-shaped spire. The ceiling on the left nave is decorated with Late Gothic frescoes. The subjects represented include “St. George fighting a dragon”, the “Feast of Herod”, a “Crucifixion” and the “Beheading of John the Baptist”.

Built in 1672 in the hamlet of Bonavesse, a village situated in a hilly area.
The chapel is shaped like a rectangular hall with a presbytery, covered by barrel vaults with decorated groins. The facade has a central doorway with two windows alongside it and is surmounted by a small rectangular shaped opening. The stone belfry with a single lancet window is not situated in the middle of the roof, but on the left hand pitch. This building underwent an initial restoration intervention in 1780, as is evident from the pastoral visit of 1786. In 1993, after a period of abandonment during which the conditions worsened extensively, the exterior and the interiors were repainted.
Mass is celebrated on the second day of the rogations.

The chapel is located in the hamlet of Clos de Barme. The date of its foundation is unknown. It was restored for the first time in 1653 and was rebuilt more recently at the summit of this village. The patron saint’s feast day is celebrated on the 16th of August.

Situated on the Echallogne “pass” in the mountains. It was built in 1693. It was destroyed by the earthquake of 1968 and was restored in 1981.
Sant’Anna is celebrated on the 26th of July.

Situated in the hamlet of Ville, in the old town of Arnad. At a first glance the depiction of the saint frescoed on the facade stands out. The entrance is protected by the large projection from the roof, the beam of which has the date 1785 inscribed on it. On the south-western edge there is a small bell tower with a square shaped base, with four single lancet windows in the bell cell and an octagonal spire with four pinnacles. From all the villages people would come down to ask for the protection of the saint for animals and the tradition is still maintained today with a beautiful celebration organised by two priors, chosen year after year, for the 17th of January, the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great.

The shrine is located at a height of 696 metres, in the Machaby valley and not far from the centre of Arnad, in a splendid position among the chestnut forests.
The building, which originates from the fourteenth century, was rebuilt entirely in 1687.
As well as numerous votive offerings, it also contains a seventeenth-century statue of the Virgin Mary, defined by the scholar Bruno Orlandoni as “one of the best masterpieces of Baroque sculpture in Valle d’Aosta”.

How to get there
Simple walk of about one hour through the woods, starting from Arnad’s village centre.

The visit
Celebration of the Holy Mass in the end of the pilgrimage on August 5th, the day of Madonna of the Snow, whom the shrine is dedicated to.