| Best known in winter for its ski resorts, Italy’s Aosta Valley, home to 100 castles is also an ideal place for immersing in rich cultural heritage during summer. Being the only possible route over the Alpine passes made Aosta a region that saw a large number of fortified structures being erected in the Middle Ages for the collection of tolls which conferred power and income. These first castles were mostly walled dungeons built for defensive purposes. In the following centuries, the defensive function was flanked and castles were predominantly used for residential purposes, and even later, the former structure had completely disappeared in favour of an evolution into the creation of noble palaces, erected with the sole purpose of showing off power and wealth. These are some of the remarkable buildings which are now open to visitors, fitted out to provide information on their past lives and architectural history: – Aymavilles Castle: Unique in its kind, the castle combines medieval and baroque phases in its external appearance, the result of the architectural initiatives during the eighteenth century of the owner, Joseph-Félix de Challant. – The Fortress of Bard was an unconquerable nineteenth century barrier fortress. It is now a European cultural centre, with museum and exhibition spaces. – Fénis Castle: one of the most famous castles in the region due to its external appearance. Towers, crenelated walls, arrow loops and corbels make this structure the classic image of a Medieval castle. The castle houses some of the most famous Gothic-style pictorial cycles in Northern Italy, commissioned by the powerful Challant family, lords of the fiefdom. – Issogne Castle, an expression of the transformation of Gothic to Renaissance and a refined stately home bearing witness to the power of the Challant family. Its external appearance, austere and humble, guards the hundreds of years of history and splendid masterpieces which lie inside such as the wrought-iron pomegranate fountain. – Savoia Castle stands in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, surrounded by the colours of a rocky alpine garden. Queen Margherita of Savoy spent her summers there. – Sarre Royal Castle: The first king of Italy Victor Emmanuel II chose this castle in the village of Sarre, as his hunting residence in Aosta Valley. The abode was also used by his successors, in particular by his son Umberto I, as the base for their expeditions to hunt ibex in the nearby valleys of Cogne, Rhêmes, and Valsaverenche, which from 1922 became part of the Gran Paradiso National Park. – Verrès Castle: A stone cube, an imposing fortress with an austere military appearance, yet rich in refined architectural details. It was Yblet de Challant who came up with the idea of building something so innovative for its time: a single-block structure with three floors connected to one another by a majestic stone staircase with flying buttresses, a true architectural masterpiece. Every year its rooms and halls come to life for the arrival of the characters of the historic Verrès Carnival. About Aosta Valley: The smallest region of Italy located in the Northwest of the country; Aosta Valley boasts spectacular scenery, world-class skiing and snowboarding, food of the highest quality and a history stretching back to Roman times. At the heart of the alps and bordered by France and Switzerland, Aosta valley is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in Europe: Cervino, Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the king of them all, Mont Blanc, which at 15,781 feet is the highest mountain in Europe, the roof of the old Continent. With Turin, Milan and Geneva airports all within easy reach, the Aosta Valley resorts are among the easiest to get to from the UK making it an ideal destination for a weekend or short break. For more information on Aosta Valley visit: www.aosta-valley.co.uk |