Torre Colin

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Torre Colin
Torre Colin from the rocky promontory of the Châtel-Argentaus

Torre Colin from the rocky promontory of the Châtel-Argentaus

Alternative name (s): Tour Colin, Casaforte Gontard
Creation time : 13th Century
Castle type : Fixed house
Conservation status: restored
Construction: Quarry stone
Place: Villeneuve
Geographical location 45 ° 42 '22.6 "  N , 7 ° 12' 48.6"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 42 '22.6 "  N , 7 ° 12' 48.6"  E
Height: 655  m slm
Torre Colin (Aosta Valley)
Torre Colin

The Torre Colin , also Tour Colin , is a medieval tower in the district of La Crête on the orographic right side of the Dora Baltea . It is near the bridge over which the access to the main town of Villeneuve in the Aosta Valley leads from the state road 26. From the tower you can also see the Châtel-Argent on a ledge on the orographic left side of the Dora Baltea.

description

The tower, which is better described as a permanent house , is a massive, medieval fortress structure that, like other towers from this period, e.g. B. the Tour des Cours in La Salle or the Donjon des Castello Sarriod de la Tour in Saint-Pierre , was built more as a residence than as a defensive structure. In a 20th century description by the architect Carlo Nigra, "[the tower] still shows well-preserved and sturdy walls built with careful decor."

Due to its characteristic, massive cuboid shape, the tower was already compared by Bruno Orlandoni with the Domus episcopalis of the Castello di Issogne , the Castello di La Mothe in Arvier and the Casaforte Villette in Cogne , but Mauro Cortellazzo pointed out that the Torre Colin is still closed Little research has been done to hypothesize.

The tower is surrounded by intact battlements under the roof , while the east facade shows holes from a former dovecote .

This is how Carlo Nigra describes the tower's windows:

"Unlike the windows halfway along the east facade, flanked by the robust openings of the cannons, all the other openings have been changed so that you can no longer even see the original entrance door, which must have opened more or less high in its north facade."

- Carlo Nigra : Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta.

A building was added to the tower over time.

  • The tower from the state road 26

  • A window in detail

  • The top of the tower on the side of the Villeneuve train station

history

According to some scholars, the Torre Colin was built on remains of Roman buildings in the 13th century. An interesting piece of evidence is that of the documentarist Patrizio Vichi , who in the documentation La strada ritrovata (Eng .: The rediscovered road) hypothesizes that the eighth Roman mile leads from Augusta Prætoria Salassorum to Villeneuve, while “when measuring the seventh Milestone located near the Torre Colin “.

It belonged to the Gontard family and was first mentioned in a document from 1267 as "Casaforte Gontard" when it was "taken over by the Commissioners of the Count of Savoy". The Gontards took advantage of the tower's strategic location to collect tolls from those who wanted to cross the bridge over the Dora Baltea, which was inevitable for the traders and pilgrims who wandered the Aosta Valley on the road from the Alpine passes to the Po Valley .

As André Zanotto reports, it is known that the Gontards disappeared from there in the middle of the 13th century, while it is written that they were made mobile in the second half of the 13th century by Marco , a member of the wealthy family of the Lords of Bard and real estate of part of the castle of Châtel-Argent .

In 1287 the Gontards , owners of the Torre Colin and lords of "Sancto Petro de Castro Argenteo" (Châtel-Argent), swore the feudal oath of allegiance to Amadeus V of Savoy .

In 1293 , when the Gontards declared their submission and the bishop “salvo comite”, they were also feudal people of Ebalo I of Challant .

For 1319, some documents report that the Gontards delivered goods to the House of Savoy and that the Torre Colin was defined as a joint property (Latin: domus communis ) between Merlin Gontard and the Counts of Savoy in the three-year period 1347-1349 .

In 1351 the Gontard stronghold was set on fire by the Sarriods d'Introd with whom they started a war. The Sarriods d'Introd were therefore obliged to pay damages during the audience held by the Savoy in the same year.

In the first half of the 15th century the Gontard family died out and so the Feste Haus was abandoned for centuries and left to decay. In the 18th century, at the time when the historian Jean-Baptiste de Tillier was writing, the Torre Colin remained in the worst condition, but at the end of the 19th century it attracted the interest of a restorer who made sure that it is to this day Preserved in good condition.

With the Deliberazione della Giunta regional 418/1999 the Torre Colin was classified as an "isolated" valuable monument.

In January 2012, a gas cylinder exploded in an apartment on the ground floor.

Today the tower is inhabited and privately owned. It is not open to the public.

useful information

On his Grand Tour through Switzerland , during which the painter William Turner (1775–1851) depicted many alpine landscapes, he also stopped near the tower to paint a few watercolors of suggestive views of Châtel-Argent and Torre Colin.

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d Carlo Nigra: Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta . Musumeci, Quart 1974. p. 105.
  2. ^ Bruno Orlandoni: Architettura in Valle d'Aosta Il Romanico e il Gotico. Dalla costruzione della cattedrale ottoneana alle committenze di Ibleto e Bonifacio di Challant 1000–1420 . Turin 1995, p. 144.
  3. ^ Mauro Cortellazzo, Renato Perinetti: L'evoluzione del Castello di Issogne prima di Georges de Challant . Regione Autonoma della Valle d'Aosta. S. 171. 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Mauro Cortellazzo, Renato Perinetti: L'evoluzione del Castello di Issogne prima di Georges de Challant . Regione Autonoma della Valle d'Aosta. S. 35. 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h André Zanotto: Castelli valdostani . Musumeci, Quart (1980) 2002. ISBN 88-70320-49-9 . P. 155.
  6. ↑ According to Carlo Nigra, however, the tower dates from the 12th century.
  7. ^ Villeneuve (AO). Il tesoro ritrovato . In: La Stampa, October 10, 2010 . Archeomedia. October 17, 2010. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  8. ↑ Bruno Orlandoni: Cronologia documentaria dell'architettura e delle arti figurative in Valle d'Aosta dall'XI secolo all'epoca napoleonica . In: Storia . Regione Autonoma di Valle d'Aosta. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  9. ^ Groupe Historique Châtel Argent de Villeneuve . In: Turismo . Comune di Villeneuve. Archived from the original on January 25, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  10. ↑ In the 14th century the '' Vuillencus '' and '' Merlin Gontard '' are listed as influential personalities in Villeneuve, while between 1263 and 1268 the settlement of Count Peter II of Savoy belonged to the "Piccolo Carlo Magno" (Eng .: called the little Charlemagne ).
  11. ^ Il Basso Medioevo (from 1200 to 1300) . In: Turismo . Comune di Villeneuve. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  12. ↑ Torino e Valle d'Aosta . Touring, 1996. ISBN 8836508804 . P. 610.
  13. ^ PRG Villeneuve - Relazione . Ambience Paesaggio. P. 59. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  14. ↑ Aosta, scoppia la bombola del gas: un morto . In: Blitz Quotidiano . January 15, 2012. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  15. ^ Joseph Mallord William Turner, British, 1775-1851 Châtel Argent, near Villeneuve, Val d'Aosta, Switzerland , 1836 . National Gallery of Ireland. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  16. Jump up ↑ Joseph Mallord William Turner, Chatel Argent, above Villeneuve, Val d'Aosta, from near the Tour Colin - 1836 . Tate Gallery. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  17. ^ Joseph Mallord William Turner, Bridge at Villeneuve with the Tour Colin, Valley of Aosta - 1813 . Tate Gallery. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2020.

swell

  • André Zanotto: Castelli valdostani . Musumeci, Quart (1980) 2002. ISBN 88-70320-49-9 . P. 155.
  • Carlo Nigra: Torri e castelli e case forti del Piemonte dal 1000 al secolo XVI. La Valle d'Aosta . Musumeci, Quart 1974. pp. 105, 230-231.
  • Bruno Orlandoni: Architettura in Valle d'Aosta. Il Romanico e il Gotico. Dalla costruzione della cattedrale ottoniana alle committenze di Ibleto e Bonifacio di Challant 1000-1420 . Turin 1995.

Web links

Commons : Torre Colin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files