Norantola Castle

Norantola Castle
	View from the south
Creation time :	approx. early 13th century
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Place:	Cama GR
Geographical location	46 ° 16 '59.6 " N , 9 ° 10' 35" E Coordinates: 46 ° 16 '59.6 " N , 9 ° 10' 35" E ; CH1903: 733922 / 127238
Height:	391 m above sea level M.

The ruins of the castle of Norantola is 391 m above sea level. M. on a hill in a chestnut forest north of the village of Norantola in the municipality of Cama in Misox in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It can be easily reached on foot from the village in a few minutes.

investment

West side

Remains of the hall

The whole complex forms an irregular pentagon with an extension of a good 40 meters long and 20 meters wide. It is surrounded by a high curtain wall, against which the various buildings lean inside. A courtyard remained free in the middle. Remains of the wall of the three-storey palace in the east have been preserved, with a gallery resting on arches in front of it on the courtyard side. The three to four buildings of the residential wing were located along the north wall. In the southwest corner stood the mighty keep with the high entrance on the 3rd floor. Remnants of a rubble stone on the second floor indicate habitability. Access was through a gate on the southeast corner of the tower. A second, smaller gate is diagonally opposite on the northeast corner. The stables were on the south wall to the right of the entrance gate.

history

Location map

The time when the castle was built is unknown and there is no written documentation. Construction joints and changing wall structures indicate at least three different construction phases. It was probably built at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century by a local noble family; In 1248 a Locarnus de Norantola is mentioned in a document, in 1295 a Petrus de Norantola . This first system included parts of the curtain wall , which was equipped with dovetail battlements in an initial expansion phase in the 13th century . At the same time the mighty residential tower was built.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the rule of Norantola passed to the barons of Sax . In 1324 Ugolinus von Sax was named "de Norantola" in a document. This change of ownership may have been the reason for the above-mentioned expansion of the castle. During the 14th and 15th centuries, numerous members of the von Sax-Misox family named themselves after Norantola: de Sacho de castro Norantole . In 1384 Norantola is mentioned on the occasion of an exchange of two pastures between Cama-Norantola and Verdabbio, as it was exactly on the border of the two properties.

The Norantola castle fell into disrepair around 1480, although it is unclear whether it was neglected or violently destroyed. When, on November 20, 1480, Count Johann Peter von Sax sold all of the sovereign rights in the Misox and Calanca Valley to the Milanese condottiere Gian Giacomo Trivulzio , Norantola Castle also passed into his possession. Trivulzio had the castle repaired; new dovetail battlements with loopholes for handguns were installed and the walls reinforced. In 1483 troops of Count Johann Peter von Sax-Misox moved in front of the castle and burned it down. The reason was a dispute about the outstanding purchase price. It is unclear whether the fortress was rebuilt afterwards. Restoration and securing work took place in 1950 and 1989 to 1996.

gallery

Tower inside
Western wall
Gate
goal

literature

Erwin Poeschel: The Art Monuments of the Canton of Graubünden , Volume 6; Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1945.
Werner Meyer : Castles of Switzerland , Volume 2: Cantons of Ticino and Graubünden; Zurich 1982.
Thomas Bitterli: Swiss Castle Guide , Friedrich Reinhard Verlag Basel / Berlin, 1995
Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer: T he castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4

Web links

Commons : Norantola Castle - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Castle world: Castello di Norantola
Maria-Letizia Boscardin: Norantola. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
reconstruction