Batailles de Reines - Eliminatoria di Avise-Vertosan

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 Valley breed, animals with a strong and combative temperament, naturally inclined to confront each other within the herd to establish hierarchy. The contests, which are non-violent and governed by precise rules, involve head-to-head horn clashes until one of the two cows yields, declaring the winner.

The Vertosan Eliminatory Round

The Avise eliminatory round is held in the picturesque Comba di Vertosan, a basin at an altitude of approximately 1,800 meters in the Municipality of Avise, in the province of Aosta. It is one of the summer eliminatory rounds of the Regional Competition: here, owners bring their queens to compete in the typical natural alpine amphitheatre, in a day that blends traditional sport, rural culture, and village festival.

How the Competition Works

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

More Than Just a Race

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