Valère Castle

The Basilique de Valère crowns the southern of two rocky hilltops at the eastern edge of Sion's old town, making it one of the most striking fortified church complexes in Switzerland. Founded around 1000 and developed into its current Romanesque form through the 12th and 13th centuries, it served for generations as the fortified residence of the Bishops of Sion. Its most remarkable possession is the Orgue de Valère, a late 14th- or early 15th-century instrument considered one of the oldest playable organs in the world — it still sounds each summer during a dedicated festival. The twenty-minute climb to the rocky plateau rewards visitors with an open panorama across the Rhône valley and the surrounding Alps, a vantage point worth the ascent entirely on its own.