Castello di Champorcher
| Castello di Champorcher | ||
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 Castello di Champorcher |
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| Alternative name (s): | Torre di Champorcher, Torre dei Signori di Bard | |
| Creation time : | 11th or 12th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | restored | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Champorcher | |
| Geographical location | 45 ° 37 '23.1 " N , 7 ° 37' 21.1" E | |
| Height: | 1392 m slm | |
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The Castello di Champorcher , also known as Torre dei Signori di Bard or Torre di Champorcher , is a high medieval tower on a hill at 1,392 meters above sea level in the center of the main town of the Italian municipality of Champorcher in the Aosta Valley .
In contrast to other castles in the Aosta Valley, the Castello di Champorcher only served defense purposes over the centuries and never as a residential building. Of the original hilltop castle , which was destroyed, only the tower, which dates from the 14th century, remains today; it was used as a signal tower in the Middle Ages . Today it is the hallmark of the settlement.
description
It is believed that the original 11th century castle was mostly made of wood. Today nothing of it has survived.
The castle tower still exists today; it is the old keep from the 12th century. It is about 15 meters high and is crowned by round battlements . In the past, the tower also had a wooden shingle roof . As was customary with simple, medieval castles in the Aosta Valley, the entrance door was raised for reasons of better defensibility, in this case 4 meters above the ground, accessible only via a ladder that could be removed in the event of an attack. The tower has a square floor plan with a side length of 6.4 meters.
Inside the tower, it is thought, there was a warehouse on the ground floor, while the three upper floors contained other rooms, which were separated by wood between floors and only lit by narrow loopholes ; a small garrison was housed there in the summer season .
Among the architectural elements that can still be seen on the building is a stone fireplace, while a protruding toilet bay can be seen on the outside .
Among the viscounts of Savoy , the castle was surrounded by a 150-meter perimeter wall and you could have a "Psudo drawbridge " get into the castle.
It is said that the castle had its own chapel , which was the first parish church in the village. According to some sources, the chapel stood on today's "Corseria", that is, in the churchyard of the parish church of San Nicola , while other sources claim that it stood where the choir of the parish church is today.
history
The Castello di Champorcher in the Aosta Valley is simply designed and probably dates from the 11th century, but according to some sources also from the 12th century, i.e. from the same time as the Castello di Cly and the Castello di Graines . It was built at the behest of the powerful Lords of Bard to prevent alternative routes from developing for the profitable trade that ran strategically along the old Via delle Gallie (German: Gallierweg) over the Bard Gorge. The passage through Bard was controlled by the "Upper Fortress" (today: Fortress of Bard ), to which the road toll had to be paid.
The Castello di Champorcher was burned down between 1212 and 1214 by Ugo II von Bard in the war against his third brother, 'Gugliemo , ancestor of Pont-Saint-Martin , in the course of which the Donnas settlement was also destroyed: while his father, Ugo I. von Bard , who had sworn allegiance to the Count of Savoy, wanted Ugo II. Von Bard to regain independence and, in addition, to enjoy the right to levy roads through the Bard gorge, in contrast to his other brother Gulgiemo , who wanted to continue in the paternal line . At the end of the conflict in 1214, the territory of Champorcher was divided between the brothers into two parts called "ressorts".
In 1242 Amadeus IV of Savoy appropriated part of the fiefdom in the valley of Champorcher from the undisciplined Ugo II of Bard, along with what was left of the castle, as part of an expropriation campaign that he practically entire Aosta Valley, and so the Savoy began to deal directly with their fiefs. Since then, the castle has not come back into the hands of the Lords of Bard.
According to some sources, the castle was rebuilt before 1276, but other documents testify that construction on the tower began earlier in 1312 with a partial restoration.
A complete revision took place from 1319/1320 at the behest of the House of Savoy : the chimney, the wall openings, a wooden staircase and a forefoot were installed in the tower, the battlements were put on and the roof was covered. The drawbridge and a curtain wall, which have now disappeared, are also attributed to this period.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the castle was a real military outpost, occupied by a small garrison, as can be seen from the tasks recorded in the records of the castellan von Bard, who was directly in the hands of the Savoyans.
In 1590, the Savoy wanted to reward various people who had shown themselves to be loyal, including wealthy merchants who had been raised to the nobility, some officers of the Royal Sardinian Army and various officials of the court. The fiefdom of Champorcher and the castle changed hands several times under royal patents under these new, local noble families; these included the Riccarands , the Bruisets , the D'Albards , the Tilliers , the Reverdins and the Freydozs .
In 1861 the municipality of Champorcher redeemed the nobility rights for the communal territories and became the owner of the castle.
In the 1980s, the tower underwent an important, conservative restoration.
Individual references and comments
- ↑ a b c d e Castello di Champorcher . ICastelli.it. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ↑ The architect Carlo Nigra mentions in his book about the castles of the Aosta Valley, which was published in 1974, that the tower was "without a door", as he had probably found it hidden through previous restorations.
- ↑ a b Mauro Minola, Beppe Ronco: Valle d'Aosta. Castelli e fortificazioni . Macchione, Varese 2002. ISBN 88-8340-116-6 . Pp. 25-26.
- ↑ a b Castello di Champorcher . Regione Valle d'Aosta. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e André Zanotto: Castelli valdostani . Musumeci, Quart 1980 (2002). ISBN 88-7032-049-9 . P. 77.
- ^ Giuseppe Giacosa: I castelli valdostani . LF Cogliati. P. 13. 1905. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ↑ The Lords of Bard were also Barons of Champorcher and controlled parts of the mandate of Châtel-Argent and the territories of the present-day communities of Arnad , Bard , Donnas , Hône , Pont-Saint-Martin and Vert .
- ↑ a b c d e Storia ed Economia . Comune di Champorcher. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved on April 28, 2020.
- ^ A b Carlo Nigra: Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta . Musumeci, Quart 1974. p. 98.
- ^ Jean-Baptiste de Tillier: Historique de la vallée d'Aoste . L. Mensio. Pp. 199-200. 1887. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ↑ Strangely enough, Carlo Nigra reverses the roles of the brothers.
swell
- André Zanotto: Castelli valdostani . Musumeci, Quart 1980 (2002). ISBN 88-7032-049-9 . P. 77.
- Carlo Nigra: Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta . Musumeci, Quart 1974. p. 98.
- Jean-Baptiste de Tillier: Historique de la vallée d'Aoste . L. Mensio. Pp. 199-200. 1887. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- Giuseppe Giacosa: I castelli valdostani . LF Cogliati. 1905. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- Mauro Minola, Beppe Ronco: Valle d'Aosta. Castelli e fortificazioni . Macchione, Varese 2002. ISBN 88-8340-116-6 . Pp. 25-26.
- Guida Rurale della Valle d'Aosta. Comunità Montana Mont Rose - Walser, Alta Valle del Lys . Assessorato Agricoltura e Risorse Naturali - Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta. S. 11. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
