• Viviminiera Information Centre

    Museums

Viviminiera Information Centre

Resort: Saint-Marcel

Opening days and times

Viviminiera can be visited at the following weekly times (please head to the library next to the information centre):

  • Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays: 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
  • Fridays: 9 a.m. - 12 noon / 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Contacts

the site is temporarily closed.

The Viviminiera Information Centre is located in the municipal building of Saint-Marcel in Prélaz and lets visitors get to know and explore the Servette mining reality through an evocative, stimulating themed trail.

Thanks to interactive and multimedia solutions, following new popular science trends, the information centre alternates between various environments that lead visitors to learn about the subjects on display, prioritising easy-to-read, highly perceptive displays, such as highly immersive video projections, dioramas, scale models and large images.

The stages of the “Viviminiera” centre

  • Reception area
  • Scale model of the Municipality of Saint-Marcel with an immersive video projection
  • The geology and mines of the Aosta Valley (map)
  • The mining of millstones (diorama and video animation)
  • The mill, its structure and operations (model of the mill and video animation)
  • The Servette mines “the story as told by the people themselves” (video)
  • An “emotional” journey inside the Servette tunnels (video installation)
  • Mining techniques (diorama and video animation)
  • Metallurgy and mineral processing (model furnace)
  • Mining transport (1:50 scale diorama of the cableway)
  • Recreation of the cableway (full scale diorama)
  • Test area
  • Geology area for recognising rocks and minerals
  • Video projection room

The centre is enhanced by a classroom so areas can be studied in more detail after the tour for groups and any type of school or class.

The tour is free and lasts about 40 minutes.

Wide parking opposite the municipal building.
The “Viviminiera” Centre can be accessed via public transport.
The “Viviminiera” Centre is about 15 km from the entrance of the Servette mining site (roughly 30 minutes by car).

See also

Geosites and mines
Guided tour of the mine galleries

Servette mining site

Saint-Marcel

The site stretches across an altitude of between 1,720 and 1,850 m, set among stunning nature and landscapes in the Mont Avic-Mont Emilius Special Protection Area, which is part of the Natura 2000 network.The tour trail set up through the mining site …

Note - this information is not directly connected to the Cammino Balteo path but it is part of the Aosta Valley tourist offer.