for cultivation around each one. In the towns, such as Alagna and Macugnaga, the houses were clustered together in small groups called frazioni (hamlets). Each hamlet, surrounded by a large area of fields, consisted of up to 12 private houses and some communal structures such as the chapel, one or more watermills, a big oven and a stone fountain, which always represented the focal point of the community. This decentralisation of the hamlets was carried out for reasons of safety (to avoid mass destruction through avalanches, landslides and flooding) as well as to gain the maximum amount of sunshine and to make use of local water supplies. In every hamlet the houses were built close together so that the roofs were almost touching, thus protecting the narrow lanes below from rain and snow.
This concentration of dwellings enabled quick and easy access to the communal services and to the cultivated fields. Walser houses could provide shelter for two or more families, together with their cattle. Stable, dwelling and barn – all the basic needs for the survival of mountain farming people – were concentrated under a single roof. Time for the Walsers was regulated by the seasons, as it still is for many country people, and their society was organised by common rules: everybody had to help build the houses, members of each family had to co-operate in snow shovelling and street maintenance, and so on.
Today the Walser community maintains its unique culture, architecture and language, albeit on a limited scale. Take the time to study the villages and hamlets encountered along the Tour to better understand the harsh way of life endured in these mountain communities. There is a Walser Museum in Alagna (www.alagna.it/en/ and click on ‘Alagna’ and then ‘The Walser Today’) and also one at Macugnaga in the hamlet of Borca.
The Otro Valley (Stage 4)
The valleys
Monte Rosa and its neighbouring summits form a huge massif from which glaciers descend on both the Swiss and Italian sides, flowing into valleys. On the Swiss side two main valleys, the Mattertal and the Saastal, drain down to the Rhône Valley, while on the Italian side it is a little more complicated. The Valtournanche, the Ayas Valley and the Lys Valley all descend to meet the Aosta Valley, where the main river is the Dora Baltea. The Valsesia drains down to the Po while the River Anza, which flows down the Anzasca Valley from Macugnaga, flows into Lake Maggiore.
Mattertal
Mattertal means ‘valley of meadows’. Legend has it that long ago, before the Alps were discovered by climbers and walkers – when mountains were still regarded as the abode of evil spirits and dragons – people believed that a magic valley existed, hidden among the glaciers of Monte Rosa, among the big peaks. It is said that in 1788 a band of men set out from the Valle di Lys in Italy in search of this Eldorado. They climbed over the pass between Monte Rosa and Liskamm (now the Lysjoch) and looked down to the valley below. However, they were disappointed only to find more glaciers, rocks, snowfields and deep ravines. Where were the grassy meadows, the land of milk and honey, which they had been looking for? Perhaps they would not be so disappointed now, seeing how the dawn of mountaineering and the consequent explosion in tourism have made this valley a haven for holidaymakers and a most lucrative place for the inhabitants.
Saastal
The Saas Valley is surrounded by well-known 4000m peaks such as the Dom, Täschhorn, the Allalinhorn, the Strahlhorn, the Rimpfischhorn, the Weissmies, the Lagginhorn…Settlements in the valley go back to the days of the Celts. The inhabitants of the Saas Valley used to form a self-contained community, but in 1392 the area was divided into four politically independent communities. Each settlement retained the basic name ‘Saas’, the origin of the names Saas Almagell, Saas Balen, Saas Grund and Saas Fee.
For centuries merchants and traders roamed through the Saas Valley across the Monte Moro and Antrona mountain passes to Italy. These trade routes were also used by pilgrims. Even the Romans used to cross these cols, attested by the discovery of ancient coins at the Antrona Pass in 1963. Although the villages in the Saastal grew during the early 20th century, Saas Fee was not developed for tourism until much later, perhaps because access to this higher village was more difficult. The first Saas Fee hotel was constructed in 1880. In 1951 the road up from Saas Grund to Saas Fee was finally completed.
Valtournanche
Dominated by the Matterhorn (or rather Monte Cervino, to give it its Italian name), this Italian valley really represents the Valle d’Aosta. Its first language traditionally was French, hence ‘Breuil’ in the name of the village at the head of the Mattertal. The valley has its base down at Chatillon, south of Aosta. The Marmore river runs along the valley, draining the glaciers of the Dent Hérens, Matterhorn and Plateau Rosa peaks, among others.
Ayas Valley
This valley is formed by the Evançon river. Its highest village is St Jacques and it meets the main Aosta Valley at Verrés.
Lys Valley
Often known as the Gressoney Valley this is a long and winding gorge that descends from the slopes of Liskamm following the route of the Lys river all the way to Pont St Martin. It is a valley rich in history with several interesting churches and villages.
Valsesia
With its base away down near Novara, far closer to Milan than Aosta, the Valsesia Valley winds its way up to Varallo where the road splits, then continues up to another junction at Balmuccia. The glacier-fed River Sesia gushes down here, and the valley above this point is known as Upper Valsesia. Alagna Valsesia is the highest village in the valley and is surrounded by mountains. This is the home of the Walsers, emigrés from the north via the Valais (Wallis) region (in what is now Switzerland) from the 10th century. Today you’ll still hear people speaking the old dialect, based on long-extinct Old German.
Anzasca Valley
This is the most eastern valley coming down from the Monte Rosa massif. It is very close to the Swiss frontier and it descends from Macugnaga to meet the Toce river near Domodossala, the main access point for Macugnaga, on the main road and railway from Visp/Brig to Milan. The Toce river flows down into Lake Maggiore, a famous tourist spot.
Macugnaga seen from the summit of Nordend
The main towns
Saas Fee
Saas Fee lies in an idyllic valley surrounded by the highest mountains in the Swiss Alps. No less than 13 peaks of 4000m or more encircle the village, which has christened itself ‘the Pearl of the Alps’.
Saas Fee can be reached by car or bus. No cars are allowed to enter the town (they have to be left in a car park at the entrance to the town); only small electric vehicles operate on the streets (and some petrol-driven refuse trucks). The resort buzzes in both summer and winter, and features the highest underground funicular railway in the world (the Metro-Alpin), which in winter serves the skiing area. It also takes the visitor to the highest revolving restaurant in the world, at 3500m. The campus of the European Graduate School, a university of the Valais canton, is located in Saas Fee.
Traditional costumes in Saas Fee
In old documents Saas is also called Sayxa, Sausa, Solxa and Solze, from the Latin salix meaning pasture. The origins of the word ‘Fee’ have not been established, but it could come from vee (cattle), ves (mountain), fö or föberg (sheep mountain) or
