Batailles de Reines - Doues-Champillon Elimination

The Queens of the Aosta Valley

The Batailles de Reines are the most cherished popular tradition in the Aosta Valley: a competition featuring cows of the Aosta breed, animals with strong and combative temperaments, naturally inclined to face off within the herd to establish hierarchy. The contests, non-violent and governed by precise rules, involve horn clashes until one of the two cows yields, declaring the winner.

The Champillon Elimination

The Doues elimination takes place on the Champillon pasture, at a high altitude in the municipality of Doues, in the province of Aosta, in the Gran San Bernardo valley at the foot of the Grand Combin massif. It is one of the summer eliminations of the Regional Competition: here, owners bring their queens to compete in the typical natural pasture amphitheatre, in a day that blends traditional sport, rural culture, and village festival.

How the Competition Works

The eliminations, held between spring, summer, and autumn in the Aosta Valley municipalities, select the queens who advance to the grand Regional Final, scheduled for late October at the Croix-Noire in Aosta. The event is organised by the association A.Re.Ta. (Amis des Reines et des Tchèvre) and represents a cornerstone of the Aosta Valley Region's rural identity.

More Than Just a Race

Alongside the fights, the Champillon event offers the weighing of the queens, a lunch featuring local products, and moments of conviviality that make the elimination an authentic Aosta Valley mountain festival.