The Castle
The existence of the noble Sarriod family, politically linked but not by kinship ties to the lords of Bard, is attested since the 12th century. However, the origins of the castle, located in Saint-Pierre in a flat area a short distance from the state road, remain obscure.
The oldest layout included the chapel and the central tower with a square plan (donjon) surrounded by a curtain wall, a typical configuration of Aosta Valley castles dating back to the 10th-12th centuries.
In 1420 Jean Sarriod built, where the tower already existed and was named since the 14th century “turris Sariodorum”, a real castle with representative functions by adding a series of structures to the pre-existing donjon. This intervention dates to the construction of the spiral staircase of the tower (viret) and the insertion of the cross-shaped windows in cut stone characteristic of the 15th-century Aosta Valley style. In 1478, Jean’s son, Antoine Sarriod de la Tour, transformed the chapel dedicated to the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, during which the external frescoes with the Crucifixion and Saint Christopher were created and the small bell tower was raised. In the north wing, on the ground floor, there is a large service room with a wooden roof; on the first floor is the so-called “hall of heads”, named after the wooden ceiling decoration.
In the late 15th century, the curtain wall was equipped with circular and semicircular defensive towers and the new entrance to the castle was opened on the eastern side with a pointed arch portal and sculpted archivolt bearing the Sarriod coat of arms.
The discontinuity between the floor levels in the various rooms attests to the different interventions that followed in the subsequent centuries. In the 16th century, the wing that today forms the eastern facade was built; the tower at the north corner dates back to the 17th century, and some fragments of wall paintings and a stucco fireplace are from the first half of the 18th century.
The castle remained the property of the Sarriod de la Tour family until 1923, then passed to the Bensa family of Genoa. Since 1970 it has belonged to the regional administration.
The exhibition
The Fragmenta picta exhibition features painted testimonies from the Quart castle dating back to the 13th-14th centuries.
Information on Sarriod de la Tour Castle
Via Petit Saint-Bernard, 20
11010 Saint-Pierre (Aosta Valley/Vallée d’Aoste)
0165 904689
l.maschio@regione.vda.it
https://www.icastelli.it/castle-1234911812-castello_sarriod_de_la_tour-it.php
From October 1 to March 31: 10:00/12:30 and 13:30/17:00
€3.00
Source: MIBACT
