Cogne & Lillaz

Cogne is one of the finest gateways into the Gran Paradiso National Park. Through the side valley Valnontey, trails lead into the realm of ibex and chamois, and at the hamlet of Lillaz the Cascate di Lillaz plunge down over several tiers. In winter Cogne is a well-known cross-country centre.

Highlights

• Gateway into the Gran Paradiso
• Cascate di Lillaz waterfalls
• Ibex and chamois watching in the Valnontey
• Well-known cross-country area

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Cogne lies in a wide, sunny high valley in the Aosta Valley, on the edge of the Gran Paradiso National Park, the oldest national park of Italy. This was founded in 1922, but went back to a royal hunting reserve which the kings of Savoy once established in order to preserve the Alpine ibex, threatened with extinction, for their own hunting. It is thanks to this early protection that the ibex is today once again native to large parts of the Alps, and Cogne is to this day regarded as an excellent area for observing ibex, chamois, marmots and rare birds in the wild.

For centuries Cogne lived not only from alpine pasture farming but also from mining: in the mountains above the village high-quality magnetite iron ore was extracted, whose mining deeply shaped the region and which was conveyed into the valley by its own railway, before operations were finally discontinued in the second half of the 20th century. In the nearby hamlet of Lillaz the waterfalls of the Urtier plunge in several roaring stages over the rocks, a popular and easily reached hiking destination. So in Cogne and Lillaz a rich, protected wildlife, royal hunting history and the quiet traces of the former Alpine mining come together.