Ru Marseiller, from the Antey-Saint-André power station

Introduction

This itinerary is a pleasant, long walk that will take you, accompanied by the water of the ru, from the Marmore torrent in Valtournenche to the sunny flanks of the central valley furrowed by the Dora Baltea. The height difference distributed over the total length of twelve kilometres is insignificant, so those who wish to do so can start either from Antey-Saint-André or from Saint-Denis or Verrayes, taking advantage of the points where the route of the ru is crossed by the regional road. The path is not regularly cleaned, so it is advisable to walk it during the winter months when the vegetation is at rest.

Description

After leaving the car in the forecourt in front of the hydroelectric micro power station of the municipality of Antey-Saint-André, cross the bridge over the Marmore torrent and start along the grassy road that follows its course upstream. You skirt the fence delimiting the intake works of the Saint-Vincent aqueduct and after a short climb you cross the route of the ru. I advise those who are not in a particular hurry to follow its course upstream until they reach the desander and the intake works, which are no more than 10 minutes away. He will not find breathtaking views or pleasant glimpses of the flowing waters of the canal as this section is almost completely piped and now runs along the bottom of the valley, but the short diversions will allow him to learn about the technical solutions adopted to capture and clean the waters of the Marmore stream from the coarser sediments that would tend to silt up the canal over time. After visiting the intake works, we retrace our steps and walk along the typical section of the Marseiller ru: a reinforced concrete channel with a U-shaped section, about sixty centimetres wide and just as deep, with two shoulders just over a span wide. Downstream of the conduit is the service path, which used to be traversed daily by the ru warden, who was responsible for supervising the integrity of the structure and suppressing water theft. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, undergrowth has invaded a large part of this path, and while waiting for a vigorous cleaning, one often finds oneself walking on the canal's shoulder. This is a pity, because the variety of the landscape, the moderate gradient and the shade of the chestnut and oak trees would make this an ideal route for children, the elderly and hikers who appreciate undemanding routes with a small difference in altitude. After an initial section in the shade of the broadleaf trees, we soon reach the section of suspended canal, where the water flows in large rusty sheet metal caissons raised a few feet above the path. From a distance they remind one of long goods trains, standing still on a dead track waiting for the locomotive. One walks alongside them until the end of the clearing, then re-enters the shade of the chestnut trees and, after passing upstream from the village of Chessin, crosses the path going up to Berzin. From here, it is a short distance to the rock face, which the gully crosses inside a black plastic conduit. This is the most difficult and dangerous passage of the entire excursion: it is necessary to proceed with great caution while balancing on the conduit, bearing in mind that the rock face upstream is often wet and in the event of ice, crossing it becomes extremely risky. After overcoming the critical stretch, which gives your legs a little adrenalin rush, you arrive upstream at the Covalou hydroelectric power station: the largest of the four power stations that exploit the Marmore river basin. Up to 10 cubic metres of water per second can pass through its turbines; between the chestnut tree tops, the compensation reservoir is clearly visible at its foot, from which the penstock starts, which, with a tunnel dug under the mountain, leaves Valtournenche and ends at the Breil power station on the banks of the Dora Baltea. Further on at a bend in the channel, turning back, one can see in the distance the Punta Cian (Tzan, Tzam), from which part of the water that feeds the power station descends, passing into the Fiernaz siphon. The trail gets closer and closer to the rock face, and after a conspicuous red/white sign painted on the rock, which in Valle d'Aosta demarcates the boundary from public to private woods, we reach a stretch a few dozen metres long partially carved into the wall. You walk along it with your head bowed, not as a sign of reverence for the audacity of the builders: on the other side of the valley you can see the remains of the ru du Pan Perdu at Châtillon, which are much more imposing, but because of the rock roof that reduces the free space above the gully to just over a metre. One passes the marble quarry and then enters the central valley with a wide bend to the right. The sides of the mountain become less steep, the vegetation of pines and downy oaks clearly denoting the hot and dry climate of the adret, the sunniest part of the mountain range, contrasting with the envers, the wetter and less sunny side. Here, the canal runs inside a metal 'V' profile, sometimes buried and sometimes slightly elevated above the path. It dominates the village of Châtillon with its three castles: that of the Passerin d'Entrèves, built upstream of the church, that of Baron Gamba, built in 1911 and, on the other side of the Dora, the castle of Ussel, built on a rock spur in the 14th century. Following the route of the ru, one passes a few parafranes downstream and slowly approaching the castle of Cly, one can still find some remains of the old canal: a dry-stone retaining wall and a small arched bridge crossing one of the rare rivulets that flow down the arid flank of this part of the valley. After reaching the village of Plantery, right on the vertical of Cly Castle, you cross the regional road and continue to the foot of the village of Gubioche among pastures dotted with fruit trees. Then one re-enters the scrub and after crossing the Chambave stream with a double hairpin bend, one crosses a humid valley furrowed by several small waterfalls. Then the canal changes its appearance again: the classic concrete section alternates with an iron section suspended on small concrete supports. A few hundred metres from the end of the ru, at a bend cut by the new route, there is a short section of the old canal bed, now overgrown by vegetation, and one of the stone locks that were used to regulate the flow of water. A few more steps and after crossing the asphalted road, upstream from the village of Marseiller, you reach the end of the ru, at the path that climbs towards the hill of San Pantaleone. Curiosity By a deed drawn up by the notary Petrus de Rovarey of Fenis, on 24 August 1423, the nobleman Claudius Vaudan, deputy château of the mandament of Cly, in the name and on behalf of the Most Illustrious Prince Amadeus (VIII) Duke of Savoy, granted the lords convened at the orchard of the castle of Cly and to the inhabitants of the parishes of Verrayes and Saint Denis all the water (1) flowing in the torrent of Valtournenche from the Matterhorn mountain as well as from the valley of Cignana and d'Oyter and from the other mountains which stretch from Corieron to Supperii, together with all the springs which flow within the aforesaid boundaries provided that they have not previously been given to other persons by our Lord Duke or his predecessors. Ten years later, in 1433, Duke Amadeus of Savoy ratified this deed in Thonon. (1) "... Totam aquam descendentem et labentem de torrente vallis Tornenchioe, videlicet tam de monte Servino, de torrente de Chiniana, de Oytero quam de aliis montibus existentibus a loco de Corieron usque ad locum de Suppery et a fondo dicti torrentis montis Servini ascendendo directe usque ad summitatem montium a parte mandamentorum Quarti et nusii et ex hinc tendendo directe per summitatem montium usque ad dictum locum de Suppery et a dicto loco de Suppery tendendo directe inferius usque ad fondum dicti torrentis montis Servini una cum omnibus acquis fontium nascentium infra dictos confines, aliis personis per dictum Dnum nrum Ducem seu ejus predecessores dudum non datis ..." 

Bibliography

• Maria Cristina Ronc, [[The Matterhorn Valley]], CDA, Turin, 1990
• Vescoz Pierre-Louis, Quelques notes sur la Commune et la Paroisse de Verraye..., Aosta 1995

Cartography

• Cervino-Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, Sheet 5, scale 1:50.000, Istituto Geografico Centrale
• Communità Montana Monte Cervino, sheet 2, scale 1:25,000