St-Maurice is a town full of art and history. A Roman officer by the name of Mauritius became a martyr here – he and his soldiers were executed for their Christian beliefs at the end of the 3rd century. This resulted in a place of pilgrimage on which Sigismund, King of the Burgundians eventually founded the Saint Maurice Abbey in 515.

The townscape is of national importance and under a preservation order. An impressive number of sacral buildings can be visited in and around the town e.g. the Chapel of Notre Dame du Scex, built 100 metres above the valley floor in the 18th century and containing a 13th century statue of the Virgin Mary. The remains of an 8th century chapel have been found on the same site.

In the 15th century, the strategic position at the bottleneck to the Upper Rhone Valley led to the construction of defensive fortifications on the bridge. These were successively expanded into a castle. After a town fire in 1693 also destroyed the castle, it was rebuilt as a government residence. It now houses changing exhibitions and the collection of the Cantonal Military Museum.

Attractive hiking and theme trails lead alongside the Rhone. The Bois Noir pine forest is an important habitat for fauna. It grows on soil which is low in nutrients. In spring, erica provides a pink carpet of flowers rare purpura cyclamen are found in the undergrowth. Peregrine falcons, common ravens, crag martins, house martins and buntings nest in the cliffs. The east-southeast slopes are home to reptiles, e.g. the common wall lizard and a population of green lizards. The spotted salamander is found in ponds and streams and the town is home to the last colony of jackdaws in the French-speaking area of Canton Valais.

The Grotte aux Fée (Fairy Grotto) is a wonderful excursion into the interior of the cliffs, where a subterranean lake and a waterfall can be seen.