Heritage: Sarre

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The castle stands on a promontory in Lalex, which overlooks the Aosta flatland above the national road for Mont Blanc, immediately after the junction for Cogne.

Built in 1710 on the ruins of a fortress mentioned as early as 1242, having passed through various hands, the property was purchased by the King of Italy Victor Emanuel II, who renovated it and used it during hunting expeditions in Val d’Aosta.
The royal castle of Sarre, after becoming the private property of the King, was used as his headquarters for expeditions in the valleys of Cogne, Rhêmes and Valsavarenche.

Several modifications were made to the residence, in order to welcome the first king of Italy, including raising of the tower and construction of new stables. Inside, the rooms were completely reconstructed and modernised. The curator of the Royal Palace in Milan was charged with furnishing the residence, for which he transferred furniture from other royal residences.

Victor Emmanuel’s successor, Umberto I (1844-1900) also destined the alpine castle for hunting activities.
In the final years of his reign, Umberto I took a particular interest in the Sarre residence and commissioned the renovation of its interior. At that time, works included important decorations in monumental rooms, garnished with ibex and chamois trophies.
Queen Maria José also spent her holidays in the castle, even in the years following the monarchy.

In 1989 the Aosta Valley regional authority purchased the estate to restore it. The castle has a longitudinal body with a square tower in the centre, and is a museum of the presence of the Savoy in the Aosta Valley region.

The visit itinerary of the royal castle unfolds over three floors:

• the ground floor introduces the guided tour of the upper floors; some rooms are dedicated to the hunting theme showing the territory, the management methods and the technical specifics of the King’s hunting trips.
• the first floor, which still retains the furnishings and appearance assumed in the second half of the 19th century, recalls the residential dimension of the castle’s Umbertine phase; the rooms are presented, with some exceptions, with the furniture documented by the 1890 inventory.
• on the second floor, the layout presents a setting for chronological scans linked to the members of the Savoy dynasty who lived in the castle from the beginning of the twentieth century to the second post-war period.

The parish church of Saint-Eustache in Chesallet dates back to the XVIII century, apart from the bell-tower (XIV century).
In 1992 the parish of Chesallet inaugurated the new church, dedicated to Our Lady of Liesse and erected in Montan village.

The parish church of Saint-Maurice, built in 1643 and extended in 1896, reveals the ancient origins of the bell-tower from the Romanesque period, which was probably built around the XI century.

The semicircular apse remains of the ancient church where it is possible to admire the remarkable frescoes attributed to the workshop of Giacomino da Ivrea, made around 1430.
At the center of the basin, Christ Pantocrator in mandorla surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists. On the left side, the figure of Saint Maurice on horseback and the coats of arms of Bishop Oger Moriset, who commissioned the pictorial cycle, and of William of Monthey, prior of Sainte-Hélène, on whom the parish church of Sarre depended until 1573. On the piers of the arch triumphal, on the left, the Man of Sorrows (Ecce Homo), on the right, the prophet Micah, Saint Simon and fragments of figures of apostles and prophets.

Over time, the church underwent substantial changes, especially at the end of the 19th century, when on the initiative of the parish priest Thomas Lale Murix of Saint-Pierre it was lengthened by 5 meters and raised by approximately 1.20 metres.

In the premises of the museum of sacred art of the church of Saint-Maurice, objects of sacred art are kept, such as wooden sculptures, jewelery and fabrics, which come from the chapels of Ville-sur-Sarre, Bellun, Champé as well as from the church itself.
The exhibition is full of pieces of great artistic value. Among the most valuable works:

• the colored wooden statue of Saint Maurice on horseback, from the early 15th century, in walnut, by the sculptor from Moron (Saint-Vincent), one of the rare non-pedestrian representations of the Saint;
• the splendid painted wooden statue of Swiss-German sculpture (perhaps Lucerne), from the 14th-15th century, unique among the Pietàs in the Aosta Valley for its verticality;
• among the goldsmith objects, dating from the 14th to the 17th century, three processional crosses and numerous finely crafted gilded silver chalices and three reliquaries, one from the priory of Sainte-Hélène-de-Sinçod in gilded copper.

See the 360° image of the interior here