Antagnod
The Rivetti Villas
Home of the Municipality of Ayas. Named after their historic owners — the Rivetti family, a prominent family of textile industrialists from Biella — the two imposing villas of Antagnod, set in a panoramic position overlooking the entire valley, were built in the 1920s for extended summer and winter stays, hence the names 'summer villa' and 'winter villa'.
Set within a large green area, with a small chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph and private sports facilities (tennis and bocce courts) — the scene of friendly competition among the wealthy guests who stayed there — the villas feature painted halls inspired by the Renaissance decorations of the Castello di Issogne.
Between 1965 and 1971, the Ville Rivetti hosted the summer holidays of the then President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat (Turin, 1898 – Rome, 1988).
Passed to the Aosta Valley Region in 1975, they now serve as the headquarters of the Municipality of Ayas, which also houses its Historical Archive, containing documentation of the territory from 1771 to the present day.
In the Council Chamber of the ‘summer villa’, the Latin motto VERITAS ME DIRIGAT (May truth guide me) is painted within a cartouche unfurling from an oak branch.
