Il Castello
The existence of the noble Sarriod family, politically connected but not by kinship ties to the lords of Bard, is documented since the 12th century. However, the origins of the castle, located in Saint-Pierre in a flat area not far from the state road, remain obscure.
The oldest layout included the chapel and the central square-plan tower (donjon) surrounded by a curtain wall, a typical configuration of Aosta Valley castles dating back to the 10th-12th centuries.
In 1420 Jean Sarriod had built, where there was already the tower called since the 14th century “turris Sariodorum,” a true castle with representative functions by adding a series of bodies to the pre-existing donjon. Dating from this intervention are the construction of the spiral staircase of the tower (viret) and the insertion of the crossed stone windows typical of the 15th-century Aosta Valley. In 1478 Jean’s son, Antoine Sarriod de la Tour, transformed the chapel dedicated to the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, when the external frescoes with the Crucifixion and Saint Christopher were made 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 decoration of the wooden ceiling.
In the late 15th century the curtain wall was equipped with circular and semicircular defensive towers and the new entrance to the castle on the eastern side was opened with a pointed arch portal and a carved archivolt bearing the Sarriod coat of arms.
The discontinuity between the floor levels in the various rooms attests the different interventions carried out in the following centuries. In the 16th century arose the wing that today forms the eastern facade, the tower at the north corner dates back to the 17th century, and some fragments of mural 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 until 1923, then passed to the Bensa family of Genoa. Since 1970 it belongs to the regional administration.
The exhibition
The exhibition Fragmenta picta presents pictorial testimonies from the castle of Quart dating back to the 13th-14th centuries.
Information on Castello Sarriod de la Tour
Via Petit Saint-Bernard, 20
11010 Saint-Pierre (Valle d’Aosta/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
