Verrès Castle (Italian: Castello di Verrès, French: Château de Verrès) is a fortified 14th-century castle in Verrès, in the lower Aosta Valley, in north-western Italy. It has been called one of the most impressive buildings from the Middle Ages in the area. Built as a military fortress by Yblet de Challant in the fourteenth century, it was one of the first examples of a castle constructed as a single structure rather than as a series of buildings enclosed in a circuit wall.
The castle stands on a rocky promonitory on the opposite side of the Dora Baltea from Issogne Castle. The castle dominates the town of Verrès and the access to the Val d'Ayas. From the outside it looks like an austere cube, thirty metres long on each side and practically free of decorative elements.
The earliest documents attesting the existence of a castle at Verrès (in the possession of the De Verretio family) date to 1287. At that time, control of the area was contested between the Bishop of Aosta and some noble families which were vassals of the Counts of Savoy: the De Turrilia, De Arnado, and De Verretio. The De Verretio in particular had harsh disagreements with the prelate over the years, which culminated in the episcopal casaforte in Issogne in 1333.

Around the middle of the fourteenth century, the De Verretio became extinct without leaving any possible heirs, so their property came into the possession of the counts of Savoy, who granted it to Yblet de Challant in 1372 as a reward for diverse duties discharged in their service.

Yblet entirely rebuilt the castle, producing a fortress that was practically impenetrable and distinct from most of the contemporary castles of the region which consisted of a number of buildings surrounded by a circuit wall.

Verrès Castle

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Issogne Castle is a castle in Issogne, in lower Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy. It is one of the most famous manors of the region, and is located on the right bank of the Dora Baltea at the centre of the inhabited area of Issogne. As a seigniorial residence of the Renaissance, the Castle has quite a different look from that of the austere Verrès Castle, which is located in Verrès, on the opposite bank of the river.

Issogne Castle is most noteworthy for its fountain in the form of pomegranate tree and its highly decorated portico, a rare example of medieval Alpine painting, with its frescoed cycle of scenes of daily life from the late Middle Ages.
Middle ages
The earliest mention of the castle of Issogne is in a Papal bull issued by Pope Eugene III in 1151, which refers to a fortified building at Issogne, the property of the Bishop of Aosta. Some walling discovered in the cellars of the current castle may be evidence of a Roman villa, dating from the 1st century BC, on the site.

Tensions between the Bishop of Aosta and the De Verrecio family, lords of the nearby town of Verrès, reached boiling point around 1333, when the castle of Issogne, the episcopal seat, was attacked and damaged by fire. Issogne remained the seat of the bishop until 1379, when the bishop of Aosta submitted to the jurisdiction of the then lord of Verrès, Yblet of Challant. Ibleto transformed the episcopal stronghold into an elegant princely residence in Gothic style, with a series of towers and buildings enclosed by an encircling wall.

When Yblet died in 1409, the feud and castle of Issogne passed to his son Francis of Challant (French: François de Challant), who in 1424 received the title of Count of Challant from the Duke of Savoy. Francesco died in 1442, leaving no male heir. A long succession struggle between Francesco's daughter Catherine of Challant and her cousin James of Challant-Aymavilles (French: Jacques de Challant-Aymavilles) was won by James, who thus became the second Count of Challant and the new lord of Issogne.

Renaissance
From about 1480, further alterations were made to the Castle by James's son Luigi di Challant, and continued after his death in 1487 by his cousin, the prior George of Challant-Varey (French: Georges de Challant-Varey), to whom James's wife Marguerite de la Chambre had granted custody of his sons Philibert and Charles. George had new wings erected to connect the already existing buildings, unifying the complex into a single horseshoe shape surrounding a central courtyard. The decorations of the portico and the celebrated pomegranate fountain date to this period. The Castle hosted many illustrious guests, including the future emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg as he returned to Germany in 1414, and King Charles VIII of France in 1494.

Work on the Castle ended with the death of George of Challant in 1509. Philibert of Challant became the new lord of Issogne, and made the Castle a residence for himself, his wife Louise d'Aarberg and his son René of Challant, under whom the Castle reached its greatest splendour and hosted a rich and refined court.

Decline and rebirth
Renato di Challant left no male heir at his death in 1565. His possessions passed to Giovanni Federico Madruzzo, husband of René's daughter Isabelle, giving rise to an inheritance dispute between the Madruzzo family and Isabelle's cousins of the Challant family that lasted for more than a century. The lordship of Issogne and its Castle passed from the Madruzzo family to the Lenoncourt family, then in 1693 to Cristina Maurizia Del Carretto di Balestrina, and was finally returned to the Challant family in 1696.

In 1802, the last count of Challant, Giulio Giacinto, died, and the Challant family was extinguished. The Castle, already abandoned for some years, fell into decay and its furniture was removed. In 1872 the owner of the Castle, Baron Marius de Vautheleret, was forced to sell it at auction. It was acquired by the Turin painter Vittorio Avondo, who restored it, furnishing it with some of its original furniture bought back from the antique market, and with copies of furniture of the period. Avondo donated the Castle to the Italian state in 1907; in 1948 it passed to the Aosta Valley region.

The Castle may be visited by guided tour.

Issogne Castle

Il castello di Arnad è uno dei più antichi castelli della Valle d'Aosta, posto nel comune di Arnad. Il castello, risalente al XII secolo, è situato su un promontorio naturale che domina il villaggio di Ville con le sue caseforti, a controllo sia dell'antica Via Francigena che della strada che attraverso il colle del vallone di Machaby collegava la valle centrale alla valle di Gressoney.
Cenni storici

Piantina del castello superiore di Arnad (Carlo Nigra)

I castelli di Arnad: in alto a sinistra il castello di Arnad, in basso al centro la casaforte della Costa, in basso a destra il castello Valleise.

Vista del castello superiore di Arnad dal paese, disegno di Carlo Nigra su schizzo di Alfredo D'Andrade
Il castello di Arnad viene nominato per la prima volta in una bolla papale del 1207 nella quale viene citata la relativa cappella intitolata a santa Maria Maddalena ed a san Michele Arcangelo, ma non ci sono certezze sulle sue origini e sui suoi primi proprietari.

Una prima ipotesi storiografica sostiene che il castello fu fatto costruire da Saverio di Arnad (Xavier d'Arnad, o in generale dalla famiglia de Arnado) nel XII o forse XIII secolo.

Una seconda ipotesi sostiene invece che il castello apparteneva già nel XII secolo ai signori di Bard, e che sia stato Guglielmo di Bard a riceverlo in dono dai Savoia. Secondo questa ipotesi, divenne di proprietà di Guillaume de Bard insieme al castello di Pont-Saint-Martin dopo le pesanti lotte che lo videro impegnato in scontri armati col fratello Ugo. Nel 1239, per ragioni economiche, metà del castello di Arnad venne infeudato a Ruffino de Arnado e dal 1293 l'intero complesso venne venduto ai signori di Vallaise.

La famiglia dei Vallaise vi abitò per tutto il XIV secolo e viene ricordato dalle cronache che nel 1351 vi ospitarono a pranzo Amedeo VI di Savoia. Al dominio dei Vallaise risale la parte centrale che è composta da un fabbricato del XIV secolo, merlato, dotato di grandi camini e stemmi dell'epoca affrescati e graffiti alle pareti ed affiancato da una slanciata torre che ospita le latrine, un unicum nella Valle d'Aosta dell'epoca, probabilmente ispirata alla torre con la stessa destinazione costruita qualche anno prima nel Palazzo dei Papi di Avignone. Per l'inadeguatezza della struttura e l'ormai oltrepassata funzione bellica, la struttura venne abbandonata a partire dal XV secolo e dal XVII la famiglia si trasferì nel castello della Costa, sempre ad Arnad ma a una latitudine inferiore, il che dettò la fine dello splendore della rocca superiore, che ha conservato tutte le sue caratteristiche romaniche senza alcuna contaminazione successiva, tanto da costituire insieme al contemporaneo castello di Ussel a Chatillon un raro esempio storico ed architettonico.

Oggi il castello non è fruibile e resta di proprietà privata, a differenza del castello inferiore di Arnad noto come castello Vallaise, acquisito nel 2010 dalla Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta.

Castello superiore di Arnad

Fort Bard, also known as Bard Fort (Italian: Forte di Bard; French: Fort de Bard), is a fortified complex built in the 19th century by the House of Savoy on a rocky prominence above Bard, a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. Fort Bard has been completely restored after many years of neglect. In 2006 it reopened to tourists as the Museum of the Alps, it has additional art exhibitions and galleries. In the summer, the main courtyard is used to host musical and theatrical performances.
History
The fort, which is at the entrance to the Aosta Valley, is located in a narrow gorge above the Dora Baltea river. It has been used for millennia to control the historic route between Italy and France. The current fortifications were built by Charles Albert of Savoy between 1830 and 1838. It replaced a 10th-century castle that had, itself, been built on an earlier structure founded by Theodoric I in the 5th century. The castle was under the control of the powerful local lords of Bard until the middle of the 13th century when ownership passed to the House of Savoy. Under their control, the defences were strengthened and improved. On May 14, 1800, a 40,000-strong French army was stopped by 400 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers at Fort Bard. They held the pass for two weeks, completely ruining Napoleon Bonaparte's plan of making a surprise attack on the Po Valley and Turin. When he heard the news, he named the fort vilain castel de Bard. Bonaparte then gave the order himself, that the fort should be razed to the ground. It was not until 1830 that Charles Albert of Savoy, fearing new attacks from the French, ordered that the fort be rebuilt. The task was entrusted to the famed Italian military engineer, Francesco Antonio Olivero. The work, which took eight years to complete, created a fort with two distinct levels. The upper part had conventional battlements whereas the lower part had 50 gun ports in autonomous casemates that were designed to offer mutual protection if attacked. A total of 416 soldiers could now be billeted in the 283-room fort. The upper level had a courtyard which contained the arsenals and barracks. The fort had enough ammunition and food supplies for three months. By the end of the 19th century, the fort had lost its military value and fell into disuse. However, the Italian Army did continue to use the fort as a powder magazine. When it closed in 1975, ownership passed to the government of the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta. In the 1980s the fort opened as a tourist attraction despite many buildings needing urgent repair.

Present day
In the late 1990s the fort was closed. It then underwent major restoration work. In 2006 Fort Bard reopened as the Museum of the Alps. Fort Bard and its town were used as the fictional Eastern European country of Sokovia in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron directed by Joss Whedon.

Fort Bard

Situated in the centre of the municipal seat, the castle is the oldest in Perloz, and certainly dates back to the 12th century, as confirmed by a document from 1195, which refers to a “sala domini” in Perloz.
It is still known as the “Ohtal” (from the Latin “hospitalis” and French “ostel”), that is a comfortable dwelling with all necessary facilities.
The construction is imposing with five floors above ground, and these dimensions must have had a political importance: the imposing size of the fortified house was meant to catch the eye of anyone going up the Lys Valley, proof of the power of the Vallaise family.
Its interesting features include a series of two-mullioned, trilobate, round, and cross windows, ended in grey stone. On the inside the palace had a well yielding fresh water. Two large fireplaces are still visible; one bears the Vallaise family coat of arms, sculpted in grey stone.
The castle was burned down during Nazi-fascist rounding up campaign on June 30 1944. The roof was restored, but it wasn’t possible to recover the two floors with wood flooring.

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Vallaise Castle

Il castello di Pont-Saint-Martin, detto anche castellaccio e castello vecchio, sorge su di un'altura morenica a dominare il borgo di Pont-Saint-Martin, in Valle d'Aosta. Posto all'imbocco della destra orografica della valle del Lys, venne costruito in una posizione strategica sia per il contatto visivo con la torre di Pramotton che per l'invio di segnali luminosi da un presidio all'altro della valle a scopo difensivo. Abbandonato secoli fa, è ridotto a rudere e meta di passeggiate da parte degli appassionati di trekking.
Architettura
Sul lato est del complesso, oggi in rovina, il castello fin dalle origini era caratterizzato da un mastio a pianta esagonale, forma anomala per il panorama dei castelli valdostani, ma paragonabile al mastio della vicina Torre di Pramotton e per Francesco Corni ispirato dai castelli inglesi di Cornaevon e Arundel. Questo nucleo originario, poco confortevole e inadatto a una funzione abitativa, veniva usato saltuariamente e solo in caso di arrocco.
Adattandosi alla morfologia del promontorio, formato da rocce lisciate dal ghiacciaio quaternario che dirupano a levante, le mura di cinta avevano forma irregolare e si aprivano con un accesso di facile controllo sul lato meridionale, in concomitanza dell'unico e stretto passaggio obbligato consentito dal territorio.

All'interno delle mura, a ponente, si leggono ancora le strutture più propriamente abitative, come la cappella e la cucina di cui resta la volta a cupola con un foro centrale per dar sfogo al fumo dell'alto camino[1] e che ricorda per dimensioni quella conservatasi al castello di Introd. Ad uno spigolo del castello resta svettante, curiosamente, una torretta cilindrica pensile, decorata da una serie di archetti ciechi che mostra somiglianze con lo stile decorativo dei castelli piemontesi costruiti intorno ai primi del Quattrocento.

Castello di Pont-Saint-Martin

Cly is a castle in the Italian town of Saint-Denis, overlooking the Dora Baltea (French: Doire baltée) river, in Aosta Valley, northwest Italy. It belongs to the so-called primitive style of castle, consisting of a keep with a surrounding wall. The ruins rise from a bed of metamorphic rock, on the edge of a fault line which extends to the Castle of Quart.
History
Cly was first mentioned in a document from 1207, in which the "chapel sancti Mauricij (Saint Maurice) de castro Cliuo" is mentioned among the goods of the Vicarage of Saint-Gilles in Verrès, but the keep has been dated to 1027 using an analysis of the tree rings in its timbers (dendrochronology). Originally a fief held from the Counts of Savoy, in 1376 the direct ownership passed to the Duchy of Savoy, which installed a castellan to administer it for them until abandoned in 1550. The castle fell to ruins in the centuries that followed.

The castle today
Eventually the castle ruins became the property of the nearby town of Saint-Denis. The castle is visible atop the hill overlooking the town of Chambave The castle is open to guided tours only in July and August. In addition to Cly, there are about 150 medieval castles, towers and fortified houses in the Aosta Valley.

Cly castle

Queen Margaret Castle stands at the foot of Ranzola hill, in the place known as “Belvedere”, as it dominates the whole of the valley as far as the Lyskamm glacier.
The building was erected between 1899 (the first stone was laid on 24 August) and 1904. In 1981 it was purchased by Val d’Aosta Regional Council.
The architect Emilio Stramucci, who designed the neo-Baroque decorations for Palazzo Reale in Turin and for the Quirinale in Rome, designed the mediaeval-style castle, described as “15th-century Lombard style”, quite frequent in France and Savoy, the homelands of the reigning sovereigns. It consists of a central rectangular body, with four cusp-roofed towers, each different from the others. The exteriors is covered in grey stone from the quarries of Chiappey in Gressoney, Gaby and Vert. The castle is on three floors: the ground floor, with living quarters, the noble floor, with the royal apartments and the second floor (not open to visitors), reserved for gentlemen of the court; the cellars are located underground. Only a few pieces of the original furniture remain; the other furniture on show comes from Villa Margherita, property of the Beck Peccoz Barons, in which the Queen stayed before the manor’s construction; the original pieces include the tapestries in linen and cotton, decorated with a chiné effect. The ornamental pictures are the work of the young painter and restorer Carlo Cussetti, who later worked on the new wing of Palazzo Reale in Turin. The mediaeval-inspired coffered ceilings, wooden panels and furniture are by the Turin wood carver Dellera, who supplied the Royal House.
On the ground floor, the main entrance leads to a vast hall with columns and a painted coffered ceiling, which leads in turn onto other rooms. On one side are the gaming rooms and the sitting rooms, connected to the semi-circular veranda looking over the valley. On the opposite side are the dining room, with its richly painted decorations on the walls, fireplace and ceiling coffers, and parchment-carved boiserie. Neogothic is also the style used in the so-called “staff-bearer’s entrance” in the octagonal tower situated in the north-west corner.
An elegant wooden staircase with griffins and eagles leads to the royal apartments, preceded by a hall whose ceiling bears the inscription “Hic manebimus optime”. The Queen’s apartment occupies the best position: from the windows of the delightful sitting room in the northern tower, you can enjoy the view of Mount Rosa and the entire valley. The false fabrics painted between the windows are reminiscent of the decoration in the baronial hall of Issogne castle. The adjacent apartment was occupied by the Hereditary Prince Humbert. On the opposite side of the hall are situated the apartments of the King and of the Marchioness Pes of Villamarina, lady-in-waiting to the Queen.
The kitchens were located in a building a short distance away and were connected to the castle by an underground Decauville track.
Other annexes include Villa Belvedere, originally used for guests and the royal gendarmerie, and the little house known as Romitaggio Carducci, dedicated to the poet who was a devoted admirer and singer to the queen.
The foot of the manor hosts a rocky garden full of Alpine, botanical species.

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Savoy Castle

Il Castello di Settimo Vittone sorge su una rocca che domina il paese di Settimo Vittone, a circa 10 km dalla città di Ivrea, sulla vecchia strada che conduce ad Aosta. Nel VI Secolo, secondo la tradizione locale, a poca distanza dal castello, sarebbe sorto un monastero di benedettini.

Probabilmente a difesa di questo convento venne eretta una torre, denominata torre Daniele, dal nome del frate fondatore, mentre intorno all'anno 893 fu fatta costruire da Attone Ascario, marchese d'Ivrea, la fortezza-castello di Settimo. Secondo la leggenda, Asgarda, regina dei Franchi e sorella di Attone Ascario, fu sepolta all'interno della cinta castellana, poco distante dal complesso paleocristiano formato dalla pieve di San Lorenzo e dal battistero, risalenti al IX secolo.

Nel 1179 il borgo divenne feudo del vescovo d'Ivrea, Germano che lo concesse ai Suzo, primi signori di Settimo Vittone. Alcuni documenti affermano che nel settembre del 1193 Guido II, vescovo d'Ivrea, impose a Corrado di Settimo di rispettare i vercellesi in transito per la vallata e di non esigere dazio per le pietre dei mulini che i Vercellesi producevano. Nel XV secolo tutti i diritti feudali furono acquisiti dagli Enrico (o Henrico) antichi signori dei luoghi, che divenuti conti, si divideranno in vari rami tra cui quello degli Enrico di Setto, discendenti da Fabrizio, che cambierà l'antico cognome in Setto e quello del conte Giacomo Filippo Enrico (o Henrico). Questa consorteria signoreggerà su Settimo Vittone sino al 1859 e fu quella che detenne più a lungo il maniero.

Il Castello fu sosta importante per i pellegrini cristiani provenienti dal Nord Europa diretti a Roma attraverso la via Francigena. A giudicare dalla planimetria e dagli sparsi muri doveva avere dimensioni amplissime, tali da considerarlo il castello il più imponente di tutta l'area della Dora Baltea. Nel XVI secolo, Carlo III di Savoia lo fece smantellare. Fu ricostruito di seguito con le fattezze di una villa residenziale.

Castello di Settimo Vittone

Fénis Castle (Italian: Castello di Fénis, French: Château de Fénis) is an Italian medieval castle located in the town of Fénis. It is one of the most famous castles in Aosta Valley, and for its architecture and its many towers and battlemented walls has become one of the major tourist attractions of the region.Built by the noble exiled famille de Cabourné who live in England to this day without the accented E.
History
The castle first appears in a document in 1242 as a property of the Viscounts of Aosta, the Challant family [fr]. At that time it probably was a simple keep surrounded by walls. From 1320 to 1420, under the lordship of Aymon of Challant and of his son Boniface I of Challant, the castle was expanded to the actual appearance.

Under Aymon's lordship the castle got its pentagonal layout, the external boundary wall and many of the towers. In 1392 Boniface of Challant began a second building campaign to build the staircase and the balconies in the inner courtyard and the prison. He also commissioned Piedmontese painter Giacomo Jaquerio to paint frescoes on the chapel and on the inner courtyard. Under Boniface I the castle reached its greatest splendor: it was a rich court surrounded by a vegetable plot, a vineyard and a garden where the lord and his guests could relax.

The castle belonged to the lords of Challant until 1716, when Georges-François of Challant had to sell it to Count Baldassarre Castellar of Saluzzo Paesana in order to pay his debts, and for the castle was the beginning of a period of decline. It was turned into a rural dwelling and became a stable and a barn.

In 1895 architect Alfredo d'Andrade purchased it and started a restoration campaign to secure the damaged structures. In 1935 a second campaign by De Vecchi and Mesturino completed the restoration and gave the castle the current appearance. The rooms were also provided with wood period furniture.

The castle is today owned by the Autonomous Region Aosta Valley, which turned it into a museum.
Despite its impressive defensive structure, the castle is situated at the top of a small knoll and not of a promontory or another inaccessible and easily defensible place. In fact it was not built for military purposes, but to serve as a prestigious residence for the Challant family.

The inner courtyard, at the centre of the keep, shows a semi-circular stone staircase and wood balconies. At the top of the staircase a 15th-century fresco features Saint George killing the dragon, while the walls of the balconies are decorated with images of sages and prophets and proverbs in old French. The frescoes are attributed to a painter from the school of Jaquerio.

The interior of the castle is divided into three floors: on the ground floor it is possible to visit the weaponry, the kitchen, the woodshed and the storage tank to collect rainwater. On the first floor there were the rooms of the lords of the castle, the chapel with frescoes by Giacomo Jaquerio and his school and the court. The second floor, in the attic, was dedicated to the servant's quarter and is not visitable.

Fénis Castle

On the old road leading to Aosta, less than an hour from Turin, on top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the small village below and the beautiful countryside in the mountains of Piedmont and Aosta Valley is located the Castello di Montestrutto. It was built in neo-Gothic style around a tower of the 9th century. A panoramic staircase leads to the castle's garden. The property, of about 800 square meters, internally consists of a large entrance, frescoed with scenes that reflect the history of the Castle, a richly decorated hallway, a living room and a large dining room with adjacent kitchen. On the first floor there are the stateroom, a studio room, the master bedroom and several other bedrooms.
The castle is in excellent condition and it is currently used as tourist accommodation.
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