Château Châtel-Argent

Châtel-Argent Castle

Few places in the Aosta Valley can evoke the same feelings as Châtel-Argent. A castle between the state of a romantic ruin and the icon of a legendary Middle Ages, symbol of a power, that of the Counts of Savoy, intimately linked to the valley and yet alien to it. The castle of Châtel-Argent is a fortress of ancient construction, probably linked to the need for defence and castles in the early Middle Ages. Characterised by no less than three concentric and discontinuous curtain walls, i.e. incomplete because they were only built where the ruggedness of the terrain alone was not sufficient to provide the necessary security, the castle appears in archival sources from the 13th century onwards and was one of the few castles that the Counts of Savoy always kept under their direct control. Its location, on a morainic spur overlooking the Dora Baltea, where the narrowing of the valley creates a natural lock and where the fortified passages and river crossings are easy to defend, explains its strategic success. The large circular tower that dominates the castle was built between 1274 and 1275 by the master builder Berteto or Umberteto di Bard: it was constructed with a unique system of spiral scaffolding, a kind of sloping ramp that allowed people to climb to the top of the tower under construction, of which there are clear traces on the front of the building. At the base you can still see the remains of the large lime kiln in which the stones were baked to obtain the mortar used in its construction. A little to the south-east is the Chapel of Santa Colomba, a Romanesque marvel that alone keeps alive the memory of a time that was. At the foot of the hill, directly overlooking the Dora, is the church of Santa Maria, a counterweight to the fortifications and heir to an early Christian baptismal complex.

It is a magical place, rich in history, easily reached by a twenty-minute walk from Villeneuve, which will never fail to amaze and enchant you.