The best MTB trails around Lake Verney

Perfect spot to take advantage and have a good refuel if you are coming from the French side.

A typical Aosta Valley village nestled in the mountains, a crossroads for Colle San Carlo, the Piccolo San Bernardo, and Pré-Saint-Didier. A little trivia: it was here that, at the end of the Second World War, a partisan brigade and a small republican brigade, putting aside all hatred, jointly opposed De Gaulle's attempt to annex the Aosta Valley to France.

We are in the La Thuile Bike Park: https://www.lathuile.it/it/mtb-trail-map This trail is marked BLACK - VERY DIFFICULT The trail is extremely steep, with some fast sections and others featuring very tight, steep switchbacks. Before setting off, read the Bike Park regulations: https://www.lathuile.it/it/natural-trail-area-e-bike-park

This stretch is extremely panoramic: it repays all the effort.

From here you can enjoy a wonderful view of the Rutor glacier.

The interior walls of the church were decorated by the painter Ettore Mazzini in 1945-46 at the request of the parish priest Elie Pession and as atonement for a wish expressed by the population of La Thuile to obtain divine protection during the Second World War. The bell tower consists of a square tower in plastered stone, decorated with arches on the top two floors. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century. The spire is from the 18th century. Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of the church and parish, is painted in a fresco located in the left lateral apse, with the representation of two episodes of his life. The relics of Saint Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra (in Turkey) in the 4th century, were transferred to Bari on 9 May 1087. It is very likely that this date was chosen to celebrate the patronal feast, instead of the traditional date of 6 December, for climatic reasons.

In the community of La Thuile, this crucifix is venerated not only for its artistic value, but also and above all because it is linked to a prodigious event. In 1794, French soldiers had destroyed everything in their path, even the church had been looted and damaged. Only the crucifix remained in its place, under the vault. The soldiers decided to knock it down, first with ropes and then, failing that, they tried to reach it directly by walking on the internal cornice of the church. But this attempt failed and some of them died. The others became discouraged and the crucifix remained in its place. On the vault we can still read: "Haec Christi imago caeteris cuntis bello vastatis 1794 mirabilite remansit. Deo gratias" ("Of all the things destroyed in the war of 1794, this image of Christ was miraculously saved. Thanks be to God").

Of the older church, we only know that it had three naves. Some documents indicate that it was rebuilt in the late 15th century. A new construction was necessary following the devastation and fires caused by the passage of French troops in the 17th and 18th centuries. This is the church we see today, consecrated by Monsignor Pierre-François de Sales, Bishop of Aosta, on June 15, 1742. The building has a Latin cross plan and semicircular apses. The current choir is the result of major transformations carried out in 1984 to adapt it to liturgical needs. The previous gray marble altar, set against the apse wall, was removed due to its modest value. In its place was placed the gilded wooden tabernacle from the 18th century, originally from the Convent of the Visitation in Aosta, suppressed in the early 19th century. Above the altar, as in almost all churches in the Aosta Valley, there is a beautiful 15th-century wooden crucifix.