Guided tour of St Martin's Basilica

11th century basilica with a crypt and frescoes, as well as the remains of the chancel from an earlier church. It has a Gallo-Roman room with inscriptions in Latin and a museum

The Romans envied this well situated valley on the route that linked Milan to Vienne (France). They envied its micro climate and already spoke of the pretty little red cows (Tarine or Tarentaise cows), whose milk made such good cheese, 'caesum vatusicum', the precurser of Tomme cheese. Excellent strategists, they defeated the Gallic-Ceutrons in about 21 BC and made Aime la Plagne, under the name of Axima, the capital of the province of the Graian Alps, which covered part of the present-day Savoie and Haute Savoie regions.

From this time, aside from the exhibits in the Pierre Borrione museum, we have the foundations of a Roman building that was destroyed when the river Ormente flooded. The early Christians built a first church on the ruins. After that church burned down, the builders of the year 1000 constructed a jewel of Savoyard Romanesque art on the same site: St Martin's Basilica. Listed as a historic monument since 1875, it has not served as a place of worship for several centuries.

Guided tour in French only