“Where the earth meets the sky,
the ancients longed for the stars”
The Pleiades, depicted on the prehistoric stellar map dating back to 4200 A.D. is rediscovered on the Plan des Sorcières at 1800 altitude, and reflects a sense of longing: to know more about the sky and its mysteries. The legend goes that, in times gone by, witches gathered here to celebrate their rituals and, still today, you can still view remains of these ancient witchcraft rites.
The water of the Lys cut the stretch of the valley district of Lilianes in two. On the right-hand side, the steep alpine pasture of Prial climbs up to the peaks of the Lose Bianche mountains, dotted with typical villages, perched as if to defend themselves against time.
The left-hand slope is more harmonious and undulating, where chestnuts have sustained the economy and survival of the local population.
The magnificent stone bridge, dating back to 1733, is the only four-arched bridge in the Aosta Valley, connecting the two sides and leading to the sixth century church which honours Saint Roch, patron saint of Lillianes, to whom the summertime Patron Saint’s Day Festival is dedicated.
Soft action Lillianes
Numerous are the possible excursions and trips to discover the delicate features of the surrounding nature and evocative alpine landscape: from the mystical perforated summit of the Bec Fourà (1830 meters) to the ritual site of the Plan des Sorcières (1800 meters). From the Prial Pass, where the view stretches out, you can continue along the southern ridge and reach the peak of Lose Bianche at 2435 meters altitude.
Lillianes has preserved a peculiar tradition: the ‘Ruotta’, a variant on the common game of bowls. Without a set number of participants, the winner is the player who gets his own bowl to make the most similar trajectory to that of the jack, which is thrown by the first player of the group.