Borgo di Cheneil

At roughly 2,000 metres on the wooded flank of the Valtournenche valley, Cheneil is a small cluster of traditional buildings with views toward the Matterhorn at the head of the valley.

Why it matters

The hamlet sits in a basin of larch woods and pastures on Valtournenche's orographic right side. Its traditional building fabric occupies a high landscape facing the Matterhorn (Cervino).

What to notice

Low stone-and-timber houses of the Valdostan type, roofed for heavy snow, are arranged around open ground. Meadows around the buildings hold rhododendrons in early summer, while larches turn gold in autumn. The nearby chapel of Notre Dame de la Guérison, dated 1896, records its foundation in carved stone; the LoveVdA heritage sheet notes its setting in a pine grove.

Context and history

Cheneil developed as a high hamlet of the Valtournenche parish, a settlement of herders and small farmers using the basins above the valley floor, at an altitude where cultivation gives way to pasture. The chapel of 1896, dedicated to Notre Dame de la Guérison, belongs to the network of hamlet chapels documented across Valtournenche's frazioni. After the Second World War, Valtournenche developed into a ski destination while Cheneil remained a high hamlet within the valley's traditional settlement landscape.