ヴァルペッリネの洞窟・トップ13

Quart Castle is currently (January 2025) undergoing conservation work. The work should be completed by summer 2025.

Travelling along the Via Francigena from Aosta to Nus, just before Quart you come across this Castle built on a hill, an enchanting and solitary place.

The Torre del Lebbroso dates back to the 13th century and stands on the western corner of the old Roman city walls of Augusta Praetoria. The tower was originally built on the foundations of an earlier Roman tower. The tower was once owned by the noble De Friour family. Later it was used as part of the Hospice de charité and served as a residence for a leper named Pietro Bernardo Guasco. The tower is also famous for the book “Le lépreux de la cité d’Aoste” (translated as “The Leper of the City of Aosta”), written by Xavier de Maistre. Today the Torre del Lebbroso belongs to the Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta and is used as an exhibition space.

Nice gravel easy paths close to the castle

The current castle was built on the remains of an earlier fortified house. The feudal estate of Saint-Marcel originally depended on the nearby castle of Ussel. Both estates were owned by the powerful Challant family. The castle was originally built in the 15th century by Giacomo di Challant-Aymavilles. It had a basically square shape like a castle residence, with an added rectangular western part for additional living space. A square tower dominated the structure, while two turrets with projecting basins adorned the corners, similar to those of Ussel Castle. Inside, the halls were covered with wooden ceilings, and some still contained remains of large chimneys.

The Torre dei Balivi, also known as Tour du bailliage, is one of Aosta's medieval architectural treasures. The tower, also known as Tour Cornière in French, was mentioned as early as 1192. In the 12th century it became the property of the local noble family De Palais (or De Palacio), who used it for their own purposes. Later, in the 13th century, it was transferred to the Count of Savoy and served as the seat of the bailiff (in old French, Bailly). The tower was expanded and remodeled in the 15th and 16th centuries, with new parts added to meet growing needs. In the 17th century it was used as a prison and courthouse. Since 2014, the tower has housed the Istituto Musicale Pareggiato della Valle d'Aosta.

Probably founded in the fourteenth century, an example of the late typology of the so-called "monobloc castles", the castle of Saint-Marcel is located on a plateau at the base of the alluvial fan of the Saint-Marcel torrent and at a road junction point for the direct routes along the valley floor and towards the valley to the south, known for the extraction of soapstone and for the presence of iron-cupriferous and manganese mines which were certainly already known in the medieval period.

While you stroll along the beautiful fairground, admire the structures that surround you