Discover the Aosta Valley castles with a licensed tour guide for a journey in some of the most beautiful castles of the Alps.
Aosta Valley has always been a compulsory passage towards alpine passes, and since it wasn’t controlled by any authority, it was easy to take the land and appoint yourself as its lord. For these reasons the region has many castles, towers and fortified houses.
The medieval castles
The first castles were built during the 11th and 12th centuries and comprise a square tower, a chapel and boundary wall. Graines, Châtel-Argent and Cly castles belong to this kind of castles.
During the following centuries castles not only had a defensive function, but also a residential one; hence, a new kind of castles called “monobloc” (Ussel and Verrès castles) were built. At that same time the Fenis castle was built, which linked the defensive function (its towers, boundary walls and loopholes) with the residential function (frescoed courtyard and chapel).
In the 15th century the luxurious Issogne castle was built, devoid of defensive structures.
The castles of the savoy family
The Sarre Royal castle and Savoy castle are strictly related to the summer holidays of the Royal family in Aosta Valley.
The Sarre Royal castle was bought by King Viktor Emmanuel II, the Hunter King, in 1869 and was a headquarter for hunting expeditions in the Gran Paradiso Valleys.
The Savoy castle in Gressoney-Saint-Jean is strictly related to Queen Margherita of Savoy and her mountain expeditions on Mount Rosa at the beginning of the 20th century.
A territory rich of medieval castles that should be discovered! An itinerary through the central valley to taste charming places rich of history.
The guided tour in a castle with an official tour guide permits to have skip-the-line tickets
Discover the beautiful castles of the Aosta Valley with a tour guide.
Call me to organize the most suitable tour to visit the Aosta Valley!
