Castles, towers and fortified houses

The Balivi tower (or Tour du Baillage), situated in Via Guido Rey, on the north-western corner of the Roman boundary wall, was built in the Middle Ages on the structures of the pre-existing Roman tower.
In 1263 Guglielmo De Palatio sold the tower to the Count of Savoy, who turned it into the residence of the Balivi, the city’s administrators.
In 1537 the Administrators were transferred to a more suitable building and tower was refurbished and converted into law courts.
From 1702 it became a prison, which was only abandoned in recent times.

At present the building is seat of the school music Conservatoire de la Vallée d’Aoste.

Bramafam Tower stands at the corner of Via Bramafam and Viale G. Carducci, along the southern side of the Roman walls.
Its official name is Bramafam Castle, but it is commonly referred to as the Tower. It has a circular rampart, with the Roman walls still visible at its base, and part of the tower which flanked Porta Principalis Dextera, on which it was constructed in around the 12-13th centuries.
It belonged to the family of the Viscounts of Aosta, who controlled the entire south-western side of the walls. After receiving the fiefdom of the Challant valley in 1295, they also took its name and became the most important noble family in Val d’Aosta. The fortified house that was their seat, was later moved to the Count of Savoy. Over the subsequent centuries it underwent various other property changes, and lost its representative and administrative importance.
It was apparently abandoned in the 16th century.

To explain the origin of the tower’s name, which is still unknown, a legend says that, out of jealousy, the wife of one of the Challants was imprisoned there and left to die of hunger.

Not open to visitors

Situated north of Porta Praetoria, in the archaeological area of the Roman theatre and surrounded by original mediaeval houses, it gets its name from the noble De Casei family (later gallicized to Fromage) which occupied it in the middle ages.
First cited in a document from 1191, the tower changed hands to the noble Vaudan family in the fifteenth century, after the marriage of Claude Vaudan to Jeannette du Fromage, the last descendant of that line.
The tower, with square plan and not very high, one side supported by the city walls, and the other one by a wall supporting the agger, it preserves its original configuration.

Not open to visitors.

Built at the beginning of the 20th century in an eclectic style and situated on the Beauregard hill to the north-east of Aosta, the castle is the headquarters of the Alpine Military School of Aosta.
It is also known as the “Duca degli Abruzzi Castle” or “Generale Cantore Castle”.
The garden has a natural rock climbing wall, and its premises contain a small museum.

Ancient Roman fortified house, Leper’s Tower was transformed into a feudal residence by the noble Friour family, which appears in records since 1191.
In the 15th century the tower stair was built on the northern side to allow easier access to the floors, and stone windows were opened on the south side. After several changes of owners, it was purchased by the Order of Saint Maurice, which took in a family of lepers originally from the town of Oneglia. The story of their stay in the tower inspired the Savoy writer Xavier de Maistre to write his well-known novel Le lépreux de la cité d’Aoste.

Not open to visitors.

This castle stands in the western area of Aosta, in Via Piccolo San Bernardo.
It is octagonal and was built towards the end of the 18th century from the Barillier family, from whom it was then given to Baron Bich, who kept it until 1880. It was later used by the canons of Gran San Bernardo for the regional agriculture school.

Along the southern section of the walls, on the railway station square, there is the most representative tower of the ancient Roman perimeter, named du Pailleron because it was long used for hay storage.
The tower, with a square floor plan and open on the four sides with six big windows, three for each level, is inserted in a part of roman walls which was open in the middle ages to build the so called “Porta Ferriére”.

After being damaged by fire, at the end of the 19th century the tower was subjected to a careful restoration work using brick, under the supervision of Alfredo d’Andrade.

Not open to visitors.

Situated on the corner of Via Tourneuve and Via Monte Solarolo, the ancient cylindrical tower, with battlements and door placed at safety height, emerges in the north-western part of the Roman walls, well-preserved and in an isolated green area.
It is named in documents from the 13th century, as belonging to the Challant family, who had the title of Viscounts of Aosta and who controlled the entire south-west side of the walls. It was then transferred to the De Turre Nova family, from whom it gets its name.

Not open to visitors.

Situated in a position dominating the village, on the side of the Machaby valley, the castle is at present in ruins.
It was probably built by the noble De Arnado family in the 13th century.
In the 14th century it was the residence of the Valleise family, who invited Amadeus VI of Savoy to lunch in 1351.

Built by the Vallaise family in the 17th century, the castle has 3 storeys flanked by 2 four-sided towers.
The internal façade opens onto the courtyard, wit a double arcade of light stone columns.

Interesting frescoes of ten fiefdoms owned by the Vallaise family can be admired in the Hall of Honour.
The park holds a hexagonal chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony and the Virgin Mary, and with a Baroque polychrome marble altar.

In past times the castle was linked by a covered gallery to the “Castello Inferiore della Costa”, now in ruins.

Acquired in 2010 from the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, the castle actually undergoes restoration works in order to be opened to the public.