Château Sarriod De La Tour

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EVENTS

A maze-like treasure trove of art and history

Sarriod de La Tour Castle is one of the purest expressions of the Middle Ages, from both an architectural and artistic point of view.

Indeed its chapel still houses paintings from the 13th and 15th centuries, but the real jewel in the crown, splendidly preserved, is the wonderful “ceiling of heads”, crafted around the 1430s. Small sculpted heads emerge from the ceiling of the hall intent on surprising, mocking or frightening visitors: fantastic characters, monsters, scantily dressed human beings, hybrid animals, dragons, and mermaids inhabit the beams of the room in a wooden forest of extraordinary originality.

In the castle some pieces of furniture and paintings belonging to the Sarriod family, its owners for nine centuries, are also preserved.

Information
Sarriod de La Tour
via della torre (parking)
SAINT-PIERRE
tel. 0165904689
e-mail: beniculturali@regione.vda.it

Opening times
October – March: 10.00 – 13.00 / 14.00 – 17.00
April – September: 9.00 – 19.00
Closed on Mondays except in July, August and public holidays
Closed on 25th December and 1st January

DIRECTIONS
From Aosta and the A5 (Aosta West exit) follow the SS26 to Courmayeur. Once you reach the base of the Church of Saint-Pierre, turn right and follow the signs for the car park.
From Courmayeur, once in Saint-Pierre, go past the castle – visible on the right – turn into the village and you reach the car park.

TICKETS
VISITOR REGULATIONS
BROCHURE

A BRIEF HISTORY

The Sarriod de La Tour family lived in the castle for almost 900 years, until the last century. It is reached by walking along a short path on the plain of Saint-Pierre, flanked by apple trees and gardens. When the weather is good the flow of the Dora Baltea can be heard, a stone’s throw away. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages: the original nucleus of the castle appeared in the first half of the 13th century at the behest of Guillaume Sarriod and consisted of a rectangular tower surrounded by a little wall, a sign of power and authority. The Sarriod family wanted to extend their lands, with the agreement and economic support of Count Amedée IV. Thus the building, towards the mid-13th century, was subject to extension and refurbishment: the chapel was built and decorated with paintings and the size of the living areas was increased. In 1478, Jean Sarriod redesigned the chapel and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, figures who we find in the painting of the Crucifixion; near this picture we can also see the figure of Saint Christopher crossing the river, carrying Baby Jesus on his shoulders. A new vault built in the 18th century hid the paintings in the chapel, which were only rediscovered in 1978. Only fragments of a few scenes remain of the paintings dating from the mid-13th century: two depictions of saints, episodes from the life of Christ and, between two monofora windows, an Adoration of the Magi. Mermaids with double tails and a strange character named ‘Grillo’(Cricket) can also be seen in the chapel. Just as intriguing and lively are the elements which can be found in the aptly named Hall of Heads, which has an extraordinary 15th-century ceiling inhabited by fantastic figures and irreverent scenes. Over time the castle was subject to many interventions to improve its usefulness in agricultural production. The Regional Administration bought the castle in 1970 and, after carrying out various preservation and development works between the 1980s and 2000, as well as the addition of portraits, furniture and other new acquisitions, it was reopened to the public in 2018.

PROTAGONISTS

JEAN DE SARRIOD
JEAN-GASPARD SARRIOD DE LA TOUR
CHRISTINE ELISE PHILOMÈNE SARRIOD DE LA TOUR
ANTOINE SARRIOD DE LA TOUR

JEAN DE SARRIOD

Jean de Sarriod, son of Louis, was born around 1402 and died in 1460. After his first wife, Catherine de Jean de Montbel, he married Beatrice di Martino d’Aglié, of the noble San Martino family, with whom he had two sons: Antoine, who continued the bloodline, and Pierre, who became canon of Aosta Cathedral.
In 1418 Jean and his brother Yblet divided the paternal inheritance, giving birth to two separate seigneuries, but also to two different dynastic lineages: the Sarriod d’Introd family descended from the firstborn Yblet, while that of Sarriod de La Tour originated with the secondborn Jean. The latter is remembered above all for having enlarged, around 1432, the previous fortified house, creating the form which it essentially maintains to this day.

JEAN-GASPARD SARRIOD DE LA TOUR

Gaspard Sarriod Chateau Sarriod de la Tour

In 1722 Jean-Gaspard Sarriod de La Tour was nominated as standard bearer of the provincial regiment of Aosta and subsequently entered the Royal Guards, moving to Turin. In 1727 he returned to Aosta, first as lieutenant in the milice regiment, then as a captain in the Aosta Company. In 1728 he married Marie-Madelaine, daughter of Jean-Baptiste de Tillier. The following years were marked by long legal proceedings regarding inheritance. Jean-Gaspard held many military roles with varying degrees of success, but the last ten years of his life were marked by serious financial problems. A lover of beauty and seduced by the luxury of the courts, between 1732 and 1733 he commissioned a portrait of himself by the famous painter Giovanna Battista Buzano, also known as “la Clementina”, which was only delivered to the Castle two years later as Jean-Gaspard was unable to pay for it: the painting is on display in the exhibition today. Jean Gaspard died in 1760.

CHRISTINE ELISE PHILOMÈNE SARRIOD DE LA TOUR

Christine Sarriod Chateau Sarriod de la Tour

Christine Elise Philomène was born on 6th May 1836 to Count Antoine-Marie Sarriod de La Tour “de Bard”, lieutenant in the “Novara” Regiment, and Marie-Elise de Coularé de la Fontaine, member of a noble Norman family. After the death of her brother Antoine Gaétan (1853) and her sisters Marie-Dauphine (1895) and Césarine- Clotilde (1897), Christine spent the rest of her days unmarried in Aosta, residing in the house on the southern side of what is now Piazza Chanoux, accompanied by her faithful maid Alexandrine, dedicating her life to religious works and charity. Last surviving member of her family, the countess died on 4th November 1923 and is buried, together with her mother and sisters, in the family crypt in Saint-Pierre cemetery.

ANTOINE SARRIOD DE LA TOUR

Dipinto Antoine Sarriod Chateau Sarriod de la Tour

On our journey around the rooms of the castle we meet Jean Sarriod de La Tour’s son Antoine (born before 1460, died around 1494), who commissioned the frescoes of the Crucifixion and of Saint Christopher carrying Baby Jesus on his shoulders, which can be seen at the entrance to the chapel. Indeed, in 1478 Antoine rebuilt it, establishing a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, and given that the two characters appear in the foreground of the Crucifixion scene, the painting was probably produced in 1478 and the years immediately following. The anonymous painter of the two depictions is identified simply by a pseudonym,“Maître d’Antoine Sarriod de La Tour”, linking him to his client.

FOCUS

THE PORTRAITS

Visitors are observed by some faces in the room. They are the portraits of the owners of the castle, members of the Sarriod de La ...[..]

THE PIETÀ BY JEAN DE CHETRO

The Mourning of Christ is one of the most common subjects in Christian art, at least from the last centuries of the Middle Ages onwards, ...[..]

THE STRONGBOX

One of the few objects which can still be seen in the castle is a strongbox. Austere and impregnable looking, it is made of wood ...[..]

THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY FRESCOES

Towards the end of the 15th century Antoine Sarriod de La Tour put the old chapel at the centre of a refurbishment project, having it ...[..]

THE ROOF OF THE CHAPEL

The original roof of the chapel on the first floor was built in the 13th century and subsequently dismantled and repositioned facing the opposite direction ...[..]