Castello Sarriod de la Tour
Surrounded by a splendid orchard stands the Castle of Sarroid de la Tour! Unlike the other castles, this one rises in a flat area; we still don’t know the origins of the rest of this castle. It belonged to the Sarroid family until the early twentieth century. The main feature that catches the eye when visiting the castle is the discontinuity and composite aspect of the structure, due to the various interventions that have taken place in different eras.
The original layout included, like all the castles in the region, the chapel, a central tower with a square base and a wall, but we know that in 1420 it was Jean Sarriod who enriched the existing structure. In the late 15th century the walls were equipped with defensive towers with a circular and semicircular plan and a new entrance to the castle was opened on the east side, with a pointed portal and a sculpted archivolt bearing the Sarriod coat of arms.
The visit to the castle deserves above all two details: the frescoes in the chapel (internal and external) and the “Hall of the heads”. Inside the chapel, in fact, some remains of an important cycle of early thirteenth-century murals are still visible, while outside, in the adjoining room, there are fifteenth-century frescoes, commissioned by Antoine Sarriod de la Tour, son of Jean. These frescoes are the work of an unknown artist but belonging to the Franco-Piedmontese school with efforts towards Flemish painting; the unknown painter was given the name of “Maître d’Antoine de Sarriod de La Tour”.
The so-called “Room of the heads” instead is located on the first floor, in the main hall of the castle: the room has 171 figures carved in the corbels of the ceiling beams, with a surprising variety. here faces of medieval men and women are mixed, but also fantastic subjects and carnival figures, which flow almost into the grotesque! The wood carving work is certainly of relevant interest for the history of wooden sculpture in the Aosta Valley.
Contacts
11010 SAINT PIERRE (AO)
Telefono: (+39) 0165 904689
Opening time
April – September 09.00 – 19.00 every day
October – March 10.00 – 13.00 and 14.00 – 17.00 closed on Mondays
Prices
Full € 3.00
Reduced € 2.00
Reduced Children 6-18 years € 1.00
Free for children up to 6 years, handicapped and accompanying persons, teachers and carers with groups