Saint-Pierre Sarriod de la Tour Castle

If you are near Saint Pierre a highly recommended stop is the Sarriod de la tour castle.
A striking castle dating back to the Middle Ages, it testifies to the power of the Sarriod family in the Aosta Valley.
The peculiarities of this castle are its history, shrouded in a hint of mystery, and above all (small spoiler) the famous ”hall of heads,” in which you can admire creepy monstrous creatures that, according to medieval tradition, populated the castle.   The castle stands on a flat area from an overhang on the Dora Baltea and is located a few kilometers from Aosta, on the SS26 leading to Courmayeur.
The origins of the castle remain obscure, except that it belonged to the Sarriod de la Tour valley family, whose existence is attested as far back as the 12th century.
The current appearance of several buildings that make up the castle can be traced back to structural interventions that were carried out over the centuries.
The oldest parts of the manor are the chapel, located at the southernmost part of the walled enclosure dating from the 13th century, and the central donjon, dating from before the 14th century.
The earliest layout of the castle resumed the typical pattern of Valdostan castles consisting of a central tower,surrounded by walls.
Over the centuries the castle was the scene of numerous extensions and transformations of the residential area that enriched it with additional buildings.
The castle’s current name “Sarriod de la Tour” can be traced back to the year 1420, when the two brothers Yblet and Jean de Sarriod divided their estates into two separate lordships.
The Sarriod d’Introd branch decided to have its seat in the castle of Introd, while the Sarriod de la Tour branch opted for the seat of Saint Pierre.
Ownership of the manor since 2003 until today belongs to the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley.   Access to the castle is through a pointed arch portal, above which is carved the coat of arms of the Sarriod de la Tour lineage. As we have already mentioned, the most striking and mysterious room in the entire castle is the Hall of Heads, located on the second floor of the northern wing. Created as a reception hall, the room owes its name to the head-shaped wooden carvings used as decorations for the corbels supporting the ceiling. The corbels are carved with curious characters, fantastic and monstrous beings representing all the restless, the grotesque, and the imaginary that populated the minds and lives of medieval man, in one of the most original masterpieces of 15th-century wooden carving. The 171 corbels depict various subjects: Faces of noblewomen and gentlemen wearing headdresses in the latest fashion of the time; carnival figures;domestic and wild animals such as dogs, ducks, wild boars; fantastic creatures including the mermaid, unicorn, dragon, etc.. The frescoes inside the castle can be traced to a period from the mid-13th to the late 15th century. The oldest frescoes are kept inside the chapel. Under the vault, one can see an Adoration of the Magi and in the splays of a window two figures of saints, under which are painted two sirens with bifid tails and a talking cricket. Above the vault, fragments of a Crucifixion are recognizable, articulated in the upper part with the scene of Christ’s Entrance into Jerusalem and the heads of four Saints, and finally a depiction of Hell, all attributable to an unknown author conventionally called the Master of Saint Pierre.