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Next: about 25 Oct 2026

Bataille de Reines final in Aosta

The autumn final of the cow fights of the Aosta Valley, held on a Sunday in October at the Croix-Noire arena.

Un momento della bataille des reines (la bovina sconfitta in fuga) al colle del Piccolo San Bernardo.
Photo: Elena Tartaglione, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cattle at Bataille de Reines final in Aosta

In the Aosta Valley, the Bataille de Reines runs from spring to autumn as a series of local heats in which cows of the native breeds meet head to head, sorted by weight. As in the Valais, the contest grows from the cows' own habit of fighting to set the order of the herd, and they push and lock horns until one gives way. The season ends with the final at the Croix-Noire arena near Aosta on a Sunday in October, when the queen of each weight class is crowned. The event fills the arena with herding families, and the queens return to their villages to a welcome.

The breeds

Aosta Black PiedA black and white native breed that also fights.

Also part of it, and being written: Aosta Chestnut (The dark chestnut cow most prized for the fights.), Aosta Red Pied (The dairy cow of the valley's fontina herds.).

About this page

Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Bataille de Reines" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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