Cly castle
Cly is a castle in the Italian town of Saint-Denis, overlooking the Dora Baltea (French: Doire baltée) river, 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 Castle of Quart.[1]
| Cly castle | |
|---|---|
| Aosta Valley, Italy | |
 Cly castle ruins | |
  Cly castle | |
| Coordinates | 45°44′57″N 7°33′37″E |
| Height | 2520 ft. |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Municipality of Saint-Denis |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1207 |
| Built by | Challant family |
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,[2] 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.[3]
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 the town of Chambave.[4] The castle is open to guided tours only in July and August. In addition to Cly, there are about 150 medieval castles, towers and fortified houses in the Aosta Valley.[5]
References
- Francesco Prinetti, Andar per sassi. Le rocce alpine fra natura e cultura. Valle d'Aosta, Canavese, Valsesia, Quart (AO), Musumeci, 2010, pp. 36-37, ISBN 978-88-7032-857-8.
- Martini Multimedia, "Castello di Cly", 2015 accessed on March 15, 2015 at http://www.inalto.org/it/schede/beni_culturali/castello_di_cly
- Massetti, E. "Aosta Valley Castles" http://www.naturaosta.it/castles.htm accessed on 12 March 2015.
- "Cly Castle"
- Massetti
External links
- "Cly Castle" Aosta Valley Tourism Board (Office du Tourisme de la Vallée d'Aoste, accessed March 12, 2015 at http://www.lovevda.it/en/database/8/castles-and-towers/saint-denis/cly-castle/1220
- "Castle of cly" Culture: Castles and Towers. Office for Tourism, Sports, Trade and Transport Official Website, 2015. Accessed March 15, 2015. http://www.lovevda.it/es/base-de-datos/8/castillos-y-torres/saint-denis/castillo-de-cly/1220
- "The Valle d'Aosta and Its Castles" Discovery Italy, accessed March 12, 2015 at http://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/art-and-history/valle-daosta-and-its-castles.html