At 8,114 feet above sea level, near the Italian border, I’m being led through the Swiss Canton of Valais by its most distinguished ambassadors. As Roanne and Lio lope ahead with their trainer, Chiara, I keep a firm hold on Athena, who strides beside me, her broad neck encircled by a thick leather collar marked with a white cross on a red backdrop—Switzerland’s national emblem. The mid-September air is crisp, wind sweeping hard across the Great Saint Bernard Pass: the high Alpine saddle that gave these dogs, my ambassadors, their name.
When snow begins to close the pass in a few weeks, Athena and the other Saint Bernards will make their annual descent from their summer home in the high Alps to Martigny, where they’ll spend the winter at the Barry Foundation kennels and the reimagined Barryland Museum.
Today, high above an Alpine lake, Athena leads me along a dirt path once traced by Augustinian monks at prayer—part of a guided walk offered to visitors. The stone hospice behind us, built in the 11th century by Canon Bernard of Menthon, later known as Saint Bernard, rises behind us—a monastic sanctuary and enduring symbol of refuge that crowns the pass. The Canon’s devotion to aiding travelers earned him the title Patron Saint of Mountaineers, and from the 17th century onward, dogs were kept here to guard the premises. They later became legends for rescuing pilgrims lost in snow and fog along the Via Francigena, the medieval route from Canterbury to Rome.
I feel privileged to be spending the day on the pass with the Saint Bernards—spirited heirs to those Alpine canine heroes. Off trail, Chiara and I unclip the leashes of Roanne, Lio, and Athena and watch them bound away.
Barryland is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the St. Bernard dog, which is considered a Swiss icon.
Courtesy of Barryland
The next morning, I take a bus for 90 minutes through the winding Rhône Valley to Barryland in Martigny, which reopened this June following a complete transformation. Run by the Barry Foundation, which took over the hospice’s breeding program in 2005, the museum is devoted to preserving and celebrating the legacy of the Saint Bernard. Sixteen of the dogs come from the nearby kennels to the museum each day, where visitors can watch them going about their daily routines. There is always one named Barry—a tribute to the most famous Saint Bernard of all, who is said, according to hospice records, to have saved more than 40 travelers in the early 1800s.
“It’s a real source of pride for Martigny to welcome the new Barryland,” says Florian Rard, communications manager at Valais Tourism. “The Saint Bernard is a strong Swiss symbol, just like the Matterhorn or the Chapel Bridge, and it has its rightful place here, just a few miles from the Great Saint Bernard Pass where the breed’s history began.”
The sleek paw-shaped complex, spanning 215,000 square feet, blends almost seamlessly into the landscape. From the ground, only the striking metal Saint Bernard sculptures by Swiss artist Marc Raymond hint at what lies within. From the moment the doors slide open, the museum reveals Swiss simplicity and elegance—part tribute, part experience, an inspired blend of history, heritage, and heart. Barryland goes beyond a typical museum, telling the story of Swiss Alpine rescue history through the seemingly mythical Saint Bernard dogs while the newest generation sits alive and drooling right before your eyes.
At Barryland, every detail revolves around the dogs’ well-being and daily rhythms. Visitors observe them behind glass, as trainers guide them through physiotherapy sessions, grooming, play, and mealtime routines. On this afternoon, Venus, an eight-year-old female, moves through a hydrotherapy tank, her efforts tracked by a heart monitor to ensure she doesn’t overexert. Children lean over the glass partition, full of questions and delight. Interactive sensory stations invite visitors to step into the dogs’ world—to discover how they see, smell, hear, and respond to touch. The dogs themselves move freely between indoor and outdoor spaces that offer visitors an unfiltered view of their lives.
Left: Barryland interior; right: Saint Bernards at Barryland
Courtesy of Barryland
The museum deepens its story on a lower level where visitors encounter photographs, film installations, archival treasures, and historical artifacts tracing the Saint Bernard’s journey from heroic mountain rescuer to cultural symbol. Exhibits here highlight the dogs’ appearance in films, vintage advertisements, postage stamps, and photographs with figures as prominent as the Pope and the president of Switzerland, a reminder of how this beloved breed has captured imaginations at home and abroad. Among these displays stands a large-scale model of the pass, where visitors can use handheld viewfinders to trigger augmented reality cues, bringing the region’s climate, wildlife, flora, and the centuries-old history of the hospice to life in layered detail.
Once hailed for their heroics in the Alps, these big-hearted and endlessly affectionate dogs that thrive on human interaction are embracing a new calling. The qualities that once sent them charging into winter blizzards are now channeled into bringing comfort as therapeutic companions across Switzerland. Visitors learn in a section of the museum called Barry Friend that the Foundation’s Animal Assisted Interventions Program, launched in 2007, now brings Saint Bernards to seniors’ homes as well as to hospitals, schools, and rehabilitation centers across the country. The initiative conducts more than 600 sessions a year across 50 institutions. The dogs work brief, managed sessions, enough to lift spirits without tiring themelves. Since 2017, the Foundation has developed a comprehensive training program for accredited social dog teams, carried out by Foundation staff and trained private individuals. This certification, says Andrea Zollinger, head of corporate communications at the Barry Foundation, “confirms the quality and seriousness of the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to animal-assisted interventions.”
In the gift shop, rows of plush Saint Bernards share shelf space with Swiss Army knives, watches, and chocolate, all Swiss icons and each bearing the singular face of the famous dog. I leave with a tote bag emblazoned with the outline of a Saint Bernard, but my other souvenir might last longer: the quiet affection of these droopy-faced, liquid-eyed giants, whose courage has left their mark on history.
