Euseigne is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

, located in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. The village is situated in the central part of the canton, in the

Val d'Hérens Val d'Hérens is an Swiss Alps, alpine valley in the Valais canton of Switzerland. It was formed by the Hérens glacier, which retreated at the end of the last ice age. It is now the valley of the ''Borgne'' river, a tributary of the Rhone (conf ...

, south of Sion. It belongs to the municipality of

Hérémence Hérémence is a municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Hérémence is first mentioned in 1195 as ''Aremens''. Geography Hérémence has an area, , of . Of this area, 18.0% is used for agric ...

Euseigne lies at a height of 979 metres (3212 feet) above sea level, on the main road connecting

Evolène Evolène is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hérens (district), Hérens in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland. It includes the villages of Evolène, Les Haudères, La Sage, Villa, La For ...

from Sion. The village is well known for the

fairy chimney A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the ...

rock formations named ''Pyramides d'Euseigne''.

Situation

Situated at the split between

val d'Hérens Val d'Hérens is an Swiss Alps, alpine valley in the Valais canton of Switzerland. It was formed by the Hérens glacier, which retreated at the end of the last ice age. It is now the valley of the ''Borgne'' river, a tributary of the Rhone (conf ...

and Val d'Hérémence, it belongs to the district of Hérens, in Hérémence commune. Euseigne is at above sea level, on the left bank of the Borgnes river, and the right bank of the Dixence river.

The Pyramids

The village is famous for its

rock formations named ''Pyramides d'Euseigne''. These are small natural reliefs, which are between 10 and 15 meters tall, are crowned by a stone and were formed by the deterioration of moraines. Thanks to their relatively big weight, these blocs protect the pyramids by compressing the underlying moraine. These pyramids were shaped after the last glaciation, and after the disappearance of the glaciers which were overwhelming Hérémence and Hérens valleys, between 10'000 and 80'000 years ago.. The main road of the valley goes through a small tunnel dug under these rock formations. File:Pyramideseuseigne.jpg, The Pyramides d'Euseigne File:Euseigne-Tunnel.JPG, View of Euseigne pyramids

References

External links

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland's national mapping agency. The current name was made official in 2002. It had been used as the domain name for the homepage of the instituteswisstopo.admi ...

topographic maps
The pyramids of Euseigne (wanderland.ch)
{{authority control Villages in Valais