Morgex

Introduction

It is an important settlement at the bottom of the valley located in the centre of Valdigne, that is, of that wide basin that opens to the west of the Pierre Taillée, the natural narrowing of the Dora Baltea valley in the commune of Avise. The etymology of the two place names (Morgex and Valdigne) is uncertain, ranging from 'marsh' to the Celtic word for 'stony ground', as well as the Burgundian wald (forest) and the Celtic vaudagne, 'valley of firs'.

Description

 Morgex certainly played an important role in the Middle Ages, being an obligatory stop for those who travelled along the road over the Petit St Bernard pass: it is no coincidence that there were two important hospices; one was entrusted to the custody of the Augustinian canons, who also owned the refuge on the hill, the other was cared for by the Military and Hospitaller Order of St John of Acre and St Thomas. There was also a Capuchin monastery. All of these institutions fell victim in various ways to the two typical calamities that periodically ravaged the municipal territory: the flooding of the Dora and the invasions of foreign troops. The latter (French) incinerated the town in 1691, which lost much of its importance from then on.
 A period of economic revival took place at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to the development of the Arpy coal mines, which fed the Aosta steelworks. This interlude ended definitively in 1962. Today, Morgex is a town with a recent vocation for tourism, thanks to the cross-country skiing tracks in Arpy, the numerous excursions possible in every season and its relative proximity to the two large ski resorts of Courmayeur and La Thuile. It has also rediscovered the tradition of viticulture by producing a DOC white wine: the Blanc de Morgex-La Salle, the fruit of vines that reach altitudes of up to 1,200 metres.

Information

Area: 43.63 sq km
Altitude: 923m
Maximum elevation: Mont Colmet (3023m)
 Number of inhabitants: 1989
Name in dialect: Mordzé
Inhabitants name: morgeassins
Patron Saint: Bienheureux Vuillerme de Léaval (7 February)
Internet site: www.comune.morgex.ao.it
Webcam: www.lovevda.it/Media/Cache/Webcam/big_arpy.jpg
Bordering municipalities: Courmayeur, La Salle, La Thuile, Pré-Saint-Didier
 Villages and hamlets: Arpy, Biolley, Dailley, Fosseret, La Ruine, Lavancher, Marais, Montet, Pautex, Ruillard, Tirivel, Villair
Landscapes: