Machaby Sanctuary

Surprising architecture beyond the splendid chestnut forest

When is it open: everyday (visits only on the patron saint's feast day)

What's not to be missed: the external door in wood and architecture in green stone

Where is it: Machaby district

Why?… Because it's worth it: a pleasant walk, culminating in a view of the sanctuary

Located at a height of 696 metres, in the Vallone di Machaby and not far from the centre of Arnad, in a splendid position among the chestnut forests. The building, of fourteenth-century origin, was entirely rebuilt in 1687. As well as the 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 works of art in Valle d'Aosta, Baroque sculpture". Legend has it that the sanctuary was erected where a statue of the Virgin Mary was found; moved to a field, it was later found in its original place; you can still see it today in the alcove on the main altar.