Bard

The toponym "Bard", should derive from the Celtic "bar" designating a fortress, a fortified place, and not from the french word "bar" indicating the barbel, freshwater fish that is found on the municipal coat of arms. It was dominated for a long time from the Lordship of the Bard, which extended its protection on all the nearby Valle Champorcher.

The medieval village of Bard and its monumental houses
At the foot of the Fortress, the medieval village of Bard is one of the most charming and best preserved in the entire Valle d'Aosta; since antiquity for its strategic position, has always been a secure bastion against invasions, and it still preserves the style to arcs rich of mullioned windows with windows crusades. In the village you can admire the monumental houses of rare beauty, such as the House of the Bishop, home of the sundial, Casa Valperga, Casa Challant, Casa Ciucca, and the elegant Palazzo dei Nobili Nicole, recent accounts of Bard. Many clubs, shops, bars, restaurants and hotels are present in the village.

Near the fortress there is an important archaeological site with engravings and a "women's chute". In its interior it is located the main Bard Museum circuit, with expositions of multimedia museum of the Alps and the Alps of the boys. A fortress that, reborn from its ashes, now represents the main center for the dissemination of Alpine culture.

By Bard finally goes the route of the Via Francigena, coming from Arnad and Hône, after crossing the bridge on the Dora Baltea, towards Donnas and Pont-Saint-Martin.

Some wrote about Bard:
'It is recessed, as a wedge, between two mountains. On the one hand is the one that supports the famous Fort (...), on the other hand is another monte even higher (...). It is the path, by means by a narrow street, with old acciotolato still marked by the wheels of the carriages of the Roman legions. The houses are all ancient and have portals, windows and beautiful balconies in carved stone (...)"