Travel book · Suisse

Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny: Valais's cultural institution

By the AEC Collection team Updated on 28 May 2026 4 min read

Some twenty-five minutes’ drive from Verbier, in the sun-drenched basin of the Valais Rhône, the town of Martigny is home to a museum that far outstrips the town’s own renown. The Fondation Pierre Gianadda was inaugurated in 1978. Over fifty years, it has welcomed more than ten million visitors, roughly five times Switzerland’s annual population.

It was born from personal tragedy and an archaeological discovery. Pierre Gianadda, an engineer, died in an aircraft accident in 1976. His brother Léonard, a businessman, purchased land earmarked for a residential building. During excavations, the ruins of Switzerland’s oldest Gallo-Roman temple came to light. Léonard Gianadda abandoned the development and instead founded a cultural foundation in his brother’s memory. The building covers the ruins, which remain visible in the basement.

A programme of European calibre

Since 1979, the Fondation Gianadda has organised two or three temporary exhibitions annually, drawing on loans from private collections and major museums (Centre Pompidou, MoMA, National Gallery London, Musée Rodin, Tate). The roster of artists shown over fifty years: Van Gogh, Picasso, Klee, Goya, Rodin, Giacometti, Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec, Chagall, Modigliani. It is one of only three Swiss private institutions capable of mounting exhibitions of this calibre, alongside Fondation Beyeler in Basel and the Kunsthaus in Zurich.

Current programme: “From Manet to Kelly, the art of the impression” (12 December 2025, 14 June 2026), an exhibition of one hundred engravings, lithographs and prints lent by the Institut national d’histoire de l’art in Paris. Followed by “Rodin according to Rilke” (26 June, 22 November 2026), a collaboration with the Musée Rodin in Paris centring on texts that the poet Rainer Maria Rilke devoted to the sculptor when he was his secretary in 1905-1906.

The permanent collections

Beyond the temporary exhibitions, the Foundation houses five permanent collections.

The Musée de l’Automobile brings together some fifty Swiss-made or Swiss-origin vehicles, dating from 1897 to 1939. Pic-Pic from St-Étienne du Bois, Geneva; the Martini from Saint-Blaise; the Dufaux, all those marques now seen nowhere else. The display is arranged chronologically, tracing the evolution of automotive design across four decades.

The Musée Gallo-Romain displays objects unearthed during the excavations, including the complete temple of Forum Claudii Vallensium, the ancient city on which modern Martigny was rebuilt. Funerary stelae, coins, everyday artefacts: the collection is among the most comprehensive in Romandy for the period 50-300 AD.

The Louis and Évelyne Franck Collection covers modern painting: Van Gogh, Picasso, Ensor, Bonnard. Some ten major works on permanent display.

The Sculpture Park surrounds the building: Rodin, Brancusi, Calder, Niki de Saint Phalle, Henry Moore, Miró, Dubuffet. A thirty-minute walk, free and accessible outside museum hours.

The Chagall Court houses the preparatory sketches for the vault of the Opéra Garnier.

Practical information

Address: Rue du Forum 59, Martigny. Open daily 10am to 6pm, until 7pm in summer and during major exhibitions. Adult admission: 18 CHF (audioguide included). Exhibition catalogue available at the exit, 25-60 CHF depending on format.

Allow two to three hours for a complete visit, longer if the temporary exhibition is the focus of your trip. The restaurant Les Pléiades, on site, serves light Valais cuisine.

Verbier

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Visiting from Verbier

The Verbier, Le Châble cable car descends in eight minutes to Le Châble (810m). From Le Châble, a regional train to Martigny takes 25 minutes. Martigny CFF station is four minutes’ walk from the Foundation. Total door-to-door time: under an hour when connections align well.

By car: 30 minutes via the main road Verbier, Le Châble, Sembrancher, Martigny. Free parking in front of the Foundation.