Cly Castle
| Cly castle | |
|---|---|
| Aosta Valley, Italy | |
Cly castle ruins | |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Municipality of Saint-Denis |
| Location | |
Cly castle Cly castle Cly castle | |
| Coordinates | 45°44′57″N 7°33′37″E / 45.749302°N 7.560353°E |
| Height | 2520 ft. |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1207 |
| Built by | Challant family |
Cly is a castle in the Italian municipality of Saint-Denis, in Aosta Valley, northwest Italy. It belongs to the so-called primitive style of castle, consisting of a keep with a surrounding wall. The ruins rise from a bed of metamorphic rock, on the edge of a fault line which extends to the Quart Castle.[1]
History
Cly was first mentioned in a document from 1207, in which the "chapel sancti Mauricij (Saint Maurice) de castro Cliuo" is mentioned among the goods of the Vicarage of Saint-Gilles in Verrès, but the keep has been dated to 1027 using an analysis of the tree rings in its timbers (dendrochronology). Originally a fief held from the Counts of Savoy, in 1376 the direct ownership passed to the Duchy of Savoy, which installed a castellan to administer it for them until abandoned in 1550. The castle fell to ruins in the centuries that followed.[2]
The castle today
Eventually the castle ruins became the property of the nearby town of Saint-Denis. The castle is visible atop the hill overlooking Chambave.
References
- ^ Francesco Prinetti, Andar per sassi. Le rocce alpine fra natura e cultura. Valle d'Aosta, Canavese, Valsesia, Quart, éd. Musumeci, 2010, pp. 36-37, ISBN 978-88-7032-857-8.
- ^ Aosta Valley Castles, accessed on 12th March 2015.
External links
- Cly Castle - Aosta Valley Tourism Board (Office du Tourisme de la Vallée d'Aoste), accessed March 12th, 2015.