Pala Castle

The oldest part of the castle, the southern residential tower, may date to the late 12th century. It may have been built for a local noble, Albertus de sancto Victore, who is mentioned in 1168,[2] or for the Counts of Sax. In 1265 the castle first appears in a historical record with the Sax family as owners, though whether they built it or forced the original owners out is not recorded.[3] The larger northern tower was built in the second half of the 13th century, by the Counts of Sax.[4] The two towers were separated by a three meters (ten foot) wide gap and were linked by a bridge. Around 1400 the northern tower was raised to its present height of six stories and topped with a gable roof. At that time the castle was inhabited by either a cadet branch of the Sax-Misox family or by one of their vassals. Whoever it was, in the 15th century they died out and the castle was abandoned.[4]

The abandoned castle slowly fell into ruin. It was cleaned and stabilized in 1944 and again in 1997.[5]

The two towers that make up the castle were built on a small terrace on a mountain north of the village of San Vittore. The southern tower has mostly collapsed and was probably used for apartments. The northern tower is still standing and has a modern roof added to protect it from the elements. The northern tower was built with several latrines and a drain along with numerous niches in the walls. The tower may have had a small ring wall which housed a few small buildings.[2]

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  Ruins of the southern building and the gap between the two towers
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  Location of Torre Pala above the village
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  North and south towers
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  Window inside the north tower

• List of castles in Switzerland