Sion - Notre-Dame-de-Valère (church and castle)

The Château de Valère (621 m/2,038ft) and the former collegiate church of Notre-Dame-de- Valère (12th-13th C.), built on Roman foundations, combine to form an impressive architectural group (floodlit on summer evenings). The church is a three-aisled pillared basilica, with fantastically decorated capitals in the choir; the carved wooden altar is 16th C., the beautifully carved choir-stalls 17th C., the stone rood-screen 13th C., and the organ, in a painted loft, 15th C. (one of the oldest that can still be played).