Bramafam Castle
| Bramafam Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Castello di Bramafam or Torre di Bramafam in Aosta |
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| Alternative name (s): | Torre di Bramafam, Castello dei Visconti di Aosta | |
| Creation time : | Second half of the 13th century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Aosta | |
| Geographical location | 45 ° 44 '2.3 " N , 7 ° 19' 7.5" E | |
| Height: | 574 m | |
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The Castello di Bramafam , often also Torre di Bramafam or more rarely Castello dei Visconti di Aosta , is the ruin of a castle in the city of Aosta in the Aosta Valley in Italy . It is located at the corner of Via Bramafam and Viale Carducci along the city wall from Roman times.
description
The castle consists of a large, cuboid-shaped building that once served as a residential building, and the adjacent, cylindrical tower that rises above the bastion of the "Porta principalis dextera" (German: right main gate) of the ancient Roman city wall. In some places of the tower foundation the original Roman wall is still visible, while on the south side the medieval staircase can still be seen. The tower ends with Guelfian battlements and shows some narrow loopholes .
The main building shows a row of double windows on the south side, the style of which is reminiscent of that of Ussel Castle . There are two access routes: on the west side is the main entrance with a round arched door that once had a drawbridge , and on the east side there is another entrance.
A special feature of the Castello di Bramafam is a cistern that is built on the south side of the main building and is not sunk into the ground like other castles in the valley. The tower and masonry have both fallen into ruins over the centuries.
According to Bruno Orlandoni, the Castello di Bramafam clearly bears signs of a tradition in planning and architectural technology that is derived from the international Gothic : In particular, in the Middle Ages it found a " golden type of proportioning ", i. i.e. not the use of the golden ratio, but rather a proportion that comes very close to it. The lack of references and more in-depth studies makes it impossible to fully assess the effects.
history
The ruins of the castle can now be dated to around the second half of the 13th century, but a tower must have existed on this site before. Originally there was a tower here, the existence of which is attested in documents from the years 1212-1214: It was called the Béatrix tower or Porta principalis dextera when Beatrice of Geneva wanted to marry Gotofredo I of Challant in 1223 . As the seat of the Visconti di Aosta , the Challant family had the Castello di Bramafam adapted to a medieval castle.
The Castello di Bramafam, which was in the hands of the Challants, who had control of the entire south-eastern section of the ramparts, was sacked by Giacomo di Quart in 1253 . In 1295 Ebalo I of Challant gave the castle to Count Amadeus V of Savoy by giving up the vice- count in exchange for the Monjovet rule .
However, the Challant family still had some rights to the castle and rented the ruins in the 18th century.
The building has had many owners over the centuries and has been moved back and forth between families in the area. The castle quickly fell into disrepair and lost its importance for politics and administration: In the 16th century, when the "Cancelleria", the purchase and sale based on the Carta Augustana , the determination of public and private acts definitely from the hands of the vice counts to those of the notaries changed, the Castello di Bramafam was already in ruins.
Legends
The name "Bramafam" is derived from the Italian dialect of the Aosta Valley: "Bramé la fam" means "to scream with hunger" in German. Popular culture gave many explanations for this name:
Legend has it that the wife of a member of the Challant family was jealously imprisoned and starved to death. According to another hypothesis, because of a great famine or in various emergency situations , the population gathered in front of the tower, the home of their masters, and asked for food, which gave the tower its name.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bruno Orlondoni: Architettura in Valle d'Aosta. Il Quattrocento. Gotico tardo e rinascimento nel secondo d'oro dell'arte valdostana 1420–1520 . Priuli & Verlucca, Ivrea 1996. ISBN 88-8068-028-5 . Pp. 77, 79.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Andrea Zanotto: Valle d'Aosta. I castelli e il castello di Fenis . Musomeci, 1993. pp. 44-45.
- ↑ Porta Principalis Dextera . Regione Valle d'Aosta. December 30, 2004. Accessed April 24, 2020.
- ^ Francesco Corni: Valle d'Aosta medievale . Tipografia Testolin, Sarre 2005.
- ↑ a b c Torre di Bramafam . Regione Valle d'Aosta. September 20, 2011. Accessed April 24, 2020.
- ↑ Le Torri . Comune di Aosta. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
swell
- Andrea Zanotto: Valle d'Aosta. I castelli e il castello di Fenis . Musomeci, 1993.
- Mauro Minola, Beppe Ronco: Valle d'Aosta. Castelli e fortification . Macchione, Varese 2002. ISBN 88-8340-116-6 . P. 39.
- Bruno Orlandoni: Architectura in Valle d'Aosta. Il romanico e il gotico . Priuli & Verlucca, Ivrea 1995. ISBN 88-8068-024-2 .
- Carlo Nigra: Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta . Musumeci, Quart 1974. pp. 79-80.
- Francesco Corni: Valle d'Aosta medievale . Tipografia Testolin, Sarre 2005.
Web links
- Torre di Bramafam . Regione Valle d'Aosta. September 20, 2011. Accessed April 27, 2020.
- Le Torri . Comune di Aosta. Retrieved April 27, 2020.