Castello Passerin d'Entrèves (Châtillon)

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Castello Passerin d'Entrèves
South-east view of the Castello Passerin d'Entrèves

South-east view of the Castello Passerin d'Entrèves

Alternative name (s): Castle of Châtillon
Creation time : 13th Century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: restored
Construction: plastered
Place: Châtillon
Geographical location 45 ° 45 '1.5 "  N , 7 ° 36' 45.5"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 45 '1.5 "  N , 7 ° 36' 45.5"  E
Height: 549  m slm
Castello Passerin d'Entrèves (Aosta Valley)
Castello Passerin d'Entrèves

The Castello Passerin d'Entrèves , often simply called Castello di Châtillon , is a former hilltop castle above the municipality of Châtillon in the Aosta Valley . Today it is a mansion ("signorile villa moderna").

The manor house, which is not open to the public and was inhabited for some time a year until 1970, houses the important archive of the Challant family , one of the most influential families in the history of the Aosta Valley. The manor house is surrounded by a park with protected, old trees, which is open to the public in the summer months.

description

The castle, which was converted into a small aristocratic palace in the 18th century, is one of the oldest in the Aosta Valley, although little remains of the appearance of a medieval castle and nothing of the previously existing structures on the rocky promontory. The country house presents itself as a compact complex with a rectangular floor plan, two towers protruding to the west and another building in the east, called the "eastern tower", for the guest house and the chapel .

The manor is in a park that was designed in the 18th century; the terraces date from 1717, whereas the surrounding wall was only built around the park in the 19th century.

The outbuildings of the manor house also date from the 19th century: Christin Passerin d'Entrèves (1830–1896) had the stables and a house for the caretaker built on the site of the old, hexagonal west tower that used to operate the drawbridge which was demolished in the 18th century. Not far away you can see the greenhouse, which also dates from the same period.

inside rooms

The manor house has a rich library that once housed the Challant family archives: the room from the time of Giovanni di Challant has a wooden ceiling and the walls are decorated with frescoes from the 15th century, in particular an intertwined palisade is reminiscent of the one painted in the courtyard of the Castello di Fénis along the balcony on the second floor. The furniture is in Empire style and in the dining room there is a picture knitting in Napoleonic style.

The frescoes in the east chapel date from 1502. Filiberto di Challant had them made for Renato di Challant's baptism. The chapel under the arcades also shows the image of the Turin Shroud , which was placed there for Giorgio di Challant-Châtillon in 1678 to celebrate the passage of the holy relic through the castle when it was brought from Chambéry to Turin .

In 1717, Paolina Solaro di Govone had the double staircase that leads to the top floor and the stucco-decorated salon built. After 1841, the great staircase was gradually illuminated through a small turret with windows. Art objects are housed in the salon.

The park

The park of the country house

The manor's park extends over an area of ​​three hectares, two of which have been open to the public since 1996, thanks to an agreement between the current owners and the regional administration during the warmer months of the year.

The oldest plants date from the time of Paolina Solaro di Govone in Challant, who had them planted at the beginning of the 18th century to replace those uprooted by the French during their invasions of 1691 and 1704. This main core of trees was gradually joined by those that were planted on the occasion of the birth of a family member. Due to the interest of the current owners, a total of 33 trees of 9 different species have been declared tree monuments. In the part of the park that is used privately, there is the last historical baroque garden that remained in the Aosta Valley, laid out along with avenues of linden and beech trees for the aforementioned Paolina Solaro di Govone.

history

The origins

In Roman times, a fortress rose on the site of today's country house, from which the settlement derived its name: “Châtillon” is actually derived from the Latin “Castellio” and this again from the term “Castrum castellionis” (English: Roman military camp of a fort ). The same etymology forms the basis of the De Castellione family name, a family who adapted the old fortress for residential purposes; the De Castelliones died out around the year 1000, whereas their permanent house was destroyed in 1200 by Goffredo di Challant.

13th and 14th centuries

Giuseppe Giacosa dates the construction of the castle to the 13th century. In fact, the castle already appears when the feudal rule was recognized in 1242.

The fiefdom belonged to the Challant-Châtillons until their extinction between 1361 and 1364, when it fell under the direct control of the Counts of Savoy . Ibleto di Challant acquired the castle from the Green Count in 1366.

15th and 16th centuries

In 1405 Giovanni di Challant, son of Ibleto di Challant, inherited the property and, according to Pierre du Bois and Jean-Baptiste de Tillier, had it restored.

The castle thus became one of the favorite places of residence of the Challant family and especially of Francesco di Challant, who died without a male heir. Notwithstanding the lex salica , which forbade women to inherit, Francesco di Challant had the House of Savoy directly grant him the right to bequeath his various fiefs to his daughters; the Castello di Châtillon went to his daughter Caterina, the wife of Pietro d'Introd. The other, male members of the Challant family (from the Challant-Aymavilles and Challant-Fénis branches) challenged the decision and again turned to the Counts of Savoy, who reversed his decision, appointed Giacomo di Challant-Aymavilles in the fiefdom and declared this time Caterina and her husband to rebels. In 1456 Giacomo di Challant-Aymavilles besieged the Castello di Verrès and the Castello di Châtillon, in which Caterina had barricaded herself, who had had a deep moat and a surrounding wall built. In December of the same year, after several months of siege and the death of her ambushed husband, Caterina surrendered and gave all her possessions to Giacomo di Challant-Aymavilles. The enclosing wall was torn down while the castle itself was seriously damaged.

Luigi di Challant, son of Giacomo di Challant-Aymavilles and the new owner of the castle, had numerous works carried out.

The coat of arms of the Challants

Coat of arms of the noble family Challant

The coat of arms of the Challant-Châtillons repeats the white and red field, crossed by a black stripe typical of the Challant family, and adds a gold ring as a symbol especially for the Châtillon branch. Legend has it that of the castles that belonged to the Challants, the one that prospered the most was called Castle of the Ring: the fortunate castle was identified as that of Châtillon, on the bottom of which a gold ring was actually found. According to legend, this was supposed to protect the castle from war and siege. Regardless of the legend, the Castello Passerin d'Entrèves in Châtillon was actually the only medieval castle in the Aosta Valley that was never actually bought or sold and that only changed hands by inheritance. Today the manor belongs to Claudia Passerin d'Entrèves.

18th and 19th centuries

The castle was converted into a manor house in the 18th century.

In 1717, Paolina Solaro di Govone, wife of Giorgio Francesco di Challant, commissioned Impresario G. Francesia with the third conversion of the castle: the gardens were redesigned, with plantings being carried out in parts of the park, an access avenue laid out from Via Tollein (to be To be able to drive the carriage to the house and no longer have to use the uncomfortable, small entrance from the west), the area was terraced and the large staircase and the salon were built in. In 1755 a severe earthquake shook the entire Aosta Valley and seriously damaged the manor house. In 1769, the architect Giulio Pistono de Mongrado carried out restoration work and the costs were so high that Count Carlo Francesco Ottavio di Challant had to go into debt. On this occasion, serious changes were made to the manor: the medieval style disappeared under the renovations of De Mongrado, who promoted a decisive restructuring of the complex, with renewal of the roof and walls. Further renovations refined the halls inside in the years 1773–1793.

In 1770 the mansion became the property of Francesco Maurizio di Challant, but he died immediately after the birth of his only son in 1796: the last heir to the Challants, Giulio Giacinto di Challant, died in 1802 as a child and thus sealed the end of what had once been the most powerful family in the Aosta Valley. The mother, Gabriella Canalis di Cumiana, remarried in 1814 with the colonel Amadeo Passerin d'Entrèves. In 1846, the Passerin d'Entrèves family inherited the manor and the archives of the Challant family.

Access

Access from Strada della Chiesa in winter

The castle was once only accessible via a mule track that branched off from the Strada della Chiesa and ran past the imposing parish church of Saints Peter and Paul and the Collegio Gervasone, parallel to the Ruisseau de la bourgade, a canal built around 1368 to divert water from the stream Marbles to various local industries and the population of the settlement. Today the main entrance to the manor branches off from Via Tollein to the south. The visitor entrance to the park is still on Strada della Chiesa.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Giuseppe Giacosa: I castelli valdostani . LF Cogliati. P. 13. 1905. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Marica Forcellini (editor): Châtillon: un paese da scoprire. 8 percorsi tra natura, storia, arte e cultura . Comune di Châtillon. Pp. 22-25. 2007. Accessed August 11, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h André Zanotto: Valle d'Aosta. I castelli & il Castello di Fénis. Musumeci, Aosta 1993, ISBN 88-7032-446-X , pp. 32-33.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Castello di Châtillon - Passerin d'Entrèves . Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved on August 11, 2020.
  5. ^ Il Castello Passerin d'Entrèves e il suo Parco a Châtillon . Comunità Montana Monte Cervino. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Jean-Baptiste de Tillier took over the theses from Pierre du Bois.
  7. ↑ Pierre Du Bois: Chronique de la maison de Challant. 1460.

swell

  • André Zanotto: Valle d'Aosta. I castelli & il Castello di Fénis. Musumeci, Aosta 1993, ISBN 88-7032-446-X .
  • Marica Forcellini (Editor): Châtillon: un paese da scoprire. 8 percorsi tra natura, storia, arte e cultura . Comune di Châtillon. 2007. Accessed August 11, 2020.
  • Giuseppe Giacosa: I castelli valdostani . LF Cogliati. 1905. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  • François-Gabriel Frutaz: Le château de Châtillon et l'inventaire de son mobilier au XVIe siècle. Imprimerie Catholique, Aosta 1899.
  • Charles Passerin d'Entrèves: Chronique du château de Châtillon. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Saint-Anselme. No. 35. Imprimerie Valdôtaine, Aosta 1958.
  • Mauro Minola, Beppe Ronco: Valle d'Aosta. Castelli e fortificazioni. Macchione, Varese 2002, ISBN 88-8340-116-6 , p. 29.

Web links

Commons : Castello Passerin d'Entrèves  - Collection of images, videos and audio files