Aymavilles The Castle of Aymavilles

The power of the Challant family In the 12th century a very important noble family of Valle d'Aosta was born: the Challant family.
The Challants ruled for a long period over much of the Aosta Valley on behalf of the regents, the Savoy.
They enjoyed immense power especially during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and had many different castles erected on the territory of the region, especially at the Dora Baltea: at Fénis, at Issogne, at Châtillon, at Verrès, Brusson, and, of course, they came to have a strong influence on the Castle of Aymavilles as well.
This noble family was present at the castle for more than five centuries, until the death of the last woman in the lineage, Madame Thérèse, mother of Victor Cacherano Osasco della Rocca.
With the death of Thérèse de Challant, the family was extinguished forever.   The transformations: the Challant family's Castle of Aymavilles Starting in the 14th century, the castle began to undergo the first modifications desired by the very powerful Challant noble family, which, around the mid-1400s, amalgamated the central donjon with 4 angular towers and a probable double wall to protect the manor.
Joseph-Félix de Challant is the undisputed protagonist of the eighteenth-century renovation phase of the castle, whose internal structure was enlarged to obtain more spacious rooms and whose external structure was softened by the creation of wide loggias, large balconies and precious white stucco decorations.
The 19th century was the period of the rise of Vittorio Cacherano della Rocca Challant, the very last descendant of the Challant lineage.
Vittorio radically transformed the interior of the castle, which became a veritable house-museum, intended for the preservation of his extensive collection of paintings, put on display in the large reception hall on the second floor.   The Bombrinis: from the sea of Liguria to the Alps of the Aosta Valley In the late 1800s, the castle then passed into the hands of its last owners: the wealthy Genoese Bombrini family.
One room in the castle is entirely dedicated to this family, and all of the furniture on display is original and painted by Emma Bombrini, the second daughter of Raffaele Bombrini, husband of Carina Gamba and buyer of the castle.
In 1895 Raffaele officially owned the Aymavilles castle, which he used as a summer residence for him and his six children.
Photos hanging on the walls from the family's private archives depict the Bombrini family intent on various scenes of daily life.
One of these dates from 1899 and depicts Emma painting a precious shaped wooden paracamino, decorated with white roses and still visible today in the Bombrini living room.
This Genoese family remained at the castle for quite some time before ceding the manor to the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta in 1970.
Since then, Aymavilles Castle has become part of the property belonging to the region.