Sion

The organ of the Basilique de Valere in Sion, dating to c. 1431-1437, is the oldest playable organ in the world. Its builder remains unknown; the painted wing panels attributed to Peter Maggenberg allowed experts to date it. Some 180 original pipes from the 1430s still exist -- unique in the world. The organ escaped the Great Fire of 1788 because the wind blew flames away from Valere, and survived the Reformation (which destroyed organs in Geneva and Zurich) partly because the hilltop's difficult access protected it. In 2022, it was retuned to mean-tone temperament. The Festival International de l'Orgue Ancien de Valere, founded in 1969, draws organists from across the globe every summer.

Sion is dominated by two hills: Valere and Tourbillon. The Basilique de Valere was built between the 12th and 13th centuries in Romano-Gothic style. Tourbillon Castle was built at the turn of the 13th/14th century by Bishop Boniface de Challant as his principal residence. In 1417, Tourbillon was burned during the Raron affair; it was rebuilt and the Chapelle Saint-Georges consecrated in 1447 with frescoes. On 24 May 1788, a devastating fire broke out on a market day, spread by Foehn winds, destroying nearly 300 homes and Tourbillon Castle definitively. Miraculously no one was killed. Valere was spared because the wind blew the fire away. The bishop wished to rebuild Tourbillon but political turmoil prevented it; the ruins were never restored.

The Le Petit-Chasseur necropolis, discovered in 1961 in Sion, is one of Switzerland's most internationally significant Neolithic-to-Bronze-Age sites. It contains three dolmens dated 2900-2200 BC, roughly 30 carved stelae (upright stones with human features and copper daggers), and nine cist graves. These stelae depicting armed warriors with triangular-bladed daggers are unique in Europe and connect Sion to the Bell Beaker culture. The alluvial fan of the river Sionne and the rocky hills of Valere and Tourbillon have been settled nearly continuously for over 7,000 years, with the oldest trace of human settlement dating to c. 6200 BC (late Mesolithic). By 4500 BC, settlements increased sharply throughout the Rhone valley.

The mazze (also spelled Matze; from Italian mazza, 'club') was a unique Valaisan instrument of direct democracy -- a carved tree trunk with a human head raised as a symbol of collective defiance. First documented in 1414, when it was raised against the noble family of Raron. When the mazze was erected in a public square, an orator would address the figure and invite it to designate the tyrant; citizens would drive nails into the trunk as a pledge of solidarity. The most famous episode occurred in 1510, when Georg Supersaxo raised the mazze against Prince-Bishop Matthaeus Schiner (c. 1465-1522), who became a cardinal in 1511. The feud brought Valais close to civil war; the Peace of the Patriots (1517) prevented Schiner's return until his death in Rome in 1522.

The bisses (German: Suonen) are ancient open-air irrigation channels unique to the Valais, carrying glacial meltwater to fields and pastures. Built from the 13th century onward, at their peak over 200 bisses totalling roughly 1,800 kilometres operated across Valais. A 2018 survey catalogued 188 bisses still in existence. They were maintained by consortages -- cooperative associations where members contributed labour proportional to their landholdings. Construction was perilous, with channels carved into cliffsides using picks, shovels, and rope. Today the bisses serve as popular hiking trails (sentiers des bisses). The Valais receives remarkably little rainfall due to its inner-Alpine rain shadow, making irrigation essential for agriculture.

The Col du Simplon (Simplonpass, 2,005 m) connects Brig in the Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont, Italy. Between 1801 and 1805, Napoleon ordered the construction of a true carriage road, built by engineer Nicolas Ceard -- primarily to transport artillery. The resulting 63-kilometre route with eight large bridges and seven rock galleries became the first true highway over the Alps. Napoleon also brought political upheaval: in 1798, Valais was incorporated into the Republique helvetique; from 1802 to 1810, it briefly became the independent Republique du Valais before Napoleon annexed it as the French Departement du Simplon (1810-1813). Sion, as capital of the Valais, was at the centre of these transformations.

On 24 May 1788, a devastating fire broke out in Sion just before noon on a market day. According to local accounts, it started when a housewife left a meal unattended. The spring had been dry, houses were tightly packed, streets narrow, and firefighting rudimentary. Strong Foehn winds spread the flames through the old town and up to Tourbillon, destroying the castle definitively. Ashes carried by the wind reportedly reached the Sierre region, kilometres away. Nearly 300 residents were left homeless, but miraculously no one was killed. The basilica of Valere was spared because the wind direction blew the fire away from its hill.

The Maison Supersaxo was built in 1505 by Georges Supersaxo (Georg Auf der Flue), the powerful and controversial Valaisan leader who feuded with Bishop Schiner. The festival hall on the second floor features an extraordinary sculpted and painted ceiling by Jacobinus Malacrida, considered one of the finest Late Gothic ceilings in Switzerland. At its centre is a large rosette with a sculptured Nativity scene, surrounded by smaller rosettes and Supersaxo's coat of arms at the four corners. An Italian-style staircase decorated with heraldic murals connects the floors. Today used by the municipality of Sion as meeting rooms and offices, the building is open to visitors.