Fenis Castle

The Challant family built Fenis mainly in the fourteenth century, and unlike the valley's cliff-top strongholds it stands on a low rise with no natural defence, which suggests its double wall and eight towers were about status as much as war. Inside, a courtyard has a semicircular stone staircase and wooden balconies, and the walls carry a fresco of St George killing the dragon and a band of wise men holding scrolls of proverbs, painted around 1425 by Giacomo Jaquerio's circle. It was restored from 1895 by Alfredo d'Andrade, whose work was itself in the romantic manner of the period.

History

The castle first appears in a document of 1242 as a property of the Challant family, viscounts of Aosta, probably then a simple keep within walls. Under Aymon of Challant, from 1320 to 1420, it gained its pentagonal plan, outer wall and many of its towers, and in 1392 Boniface of Challant began building the staircase and balconies of the courtyard (Wikipedia, Fénis Castle).

The main sights

• The double wall - two rings and eight towers on a low rise.
• The courtyard stair - a semicircular staircase with wooden balconies.
• The St George fresco - a painted dragon scene of about 1425.
• The proverb scrolls - a band of wise men holding written maxims.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes some weekdays in winter and visits are on timed guided tours. Summer weekends book out. Allow around an hour inside.

What to expect

Entry is by guided tour with fixed times and limited numbers. Much of the visible fabric reflects the nineteenth-century restoration. Interiors are sparsely furnished.

Nearby

Aosta lies west; Bard fortress is down the valley.

Key facts