Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny: Valais's cultural institution
Half an hour from Verbier by road, in the sunny basin of the Valais Rhône, the town of Martigny is home to a museum that far exceeds the prominence of the municipality itself. The Fondation Pierre Gianadda was inaugurated in 1978. Over nearly fifty years, it has welcomed around ten million visitors, more than the population of Switzerland.
It was born from personal tragedy and an archaeological discovery. Pierre Gianadda, an engineer, died in a plane crash in 1976. His brother Léonard, an engineer and entrepreneur, had planned to construct a building on a site in Martigny. During excavation, the ruins of a Gallo-Roman temple came to light. Léonard Gianadda abandoned the property development and founded instead a cultural foundation in memory of his brother. The building covers the ruins, which remain visible in the basement.
Programming at a European level
Since 1979, the Gianadda Foundation has organised two or three temporary exhibitions per year, drawing on loans from private collections and major museums (Centre Pompidou, MoMA, National Gallery in London, Musée Rodin, Tate). The artists presented over fifty years: Van Gogh, Picasso, Klee, Goya, Rodin, Giacometti, Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec, Chagall, Modigliani.
Recent programming: “From Manet to Kelly, the art of the print” (12 December 2025, 14 June 2026), which brought together 178 engravings and prints from the library of the National Institute for Art History. Then “Rodin according to Rilke” (26 June, 22 November 2026), a collaboration with the Musée Rodin in Paris centred around the texts that poet Rainer Maria Rilke devoted to the sculptor, when he served as his secretary in 1905-1906.
The permanent collections
Beyond the temporary exhibitions, the Foundation houses three permanent ensembles.
The Automobile Museum brings together some fifty vehicles dating from 1897 to 1939, including a rare collection of Swiss-manufactured cars. The Pic-Pic marque (St-Étienne du Bois, Geneva), the Martini from Saint-Blaise, the Dufaux; all those no longer seen anywhere. The display is arranged chronologically and allows one to follow the evolution of automobile design over forty years.
The Gallo-Roman Museum displays pieces uncovered during the excavations, including the remains of the temple discovered in 1976, at Forum Claudii Vallensium, the ancient city upon which Martigny was rebuilt. The collection also includes burial stelae, coins and artefacts of daily life.
The Sculpture Park surrounds the building: Rodin, Henry Moore, Dubuffet, Niki de Saint Phalle, Chillida, Botero. A walk of approximately half an hour.
Practical information
Address: Rue du Forum 59, Martigny. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.. Exhibition catalogue available at the shop.
Allow two to three hours for a full visit, longer if the temporary exhibition is the focus of your trip. The restaurant Le Patio des Jardins, in the park, allows you to dine on site.
Verbier
Travel Book AEC CollectionGetting there from Verbier
The cable car descends from Verbier to Le Châble. From Le Châble, regional train to Martigny: 25 minutes. From Martigny CFF station, bus 201 stops 3 minutes from the Foundation. Total door-to-door: less than an hour when connections work well.
By car: 30 minutes via the main road Verbier, Le Châble, Sembrancher, Martigny. Free parking in front of the Foundation.
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