Cly is a castle in the Italian town of Saint-Denis, overlooking the

Dora Baltea Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duria Bautica''. Strabo called it Δουρ� ...

(french: Doire baltée) river, in

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

, northwest Italy. It belongs to the so-called primitive style of castle, consisting of a

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

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 Quart ( Valdôtain: ; Issime wae, Koart) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. Main sights The Quart Castle, built starting from 1185 by Jacques de la Porte de Saint-Ours, founder of the Lords of Quart. O ...

History

Cly was first mentioned in a document from 1207, in which the "chapel sancti Mauricij (

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is th ...

) de castro Cliuo" is mentioned among the goods of the Vicarage of Saint-Gilles in

Verrès Verrès ( Valdôtain: ; Issime wae, Verez) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy near Verrès Castle and Cly Castle Cly is a castle in the Italian town of Saint-Denis, overlooking the Dora Baltea (french: D ...

, 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 The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at th ...

, in 1376 the direct ownership passed to the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The du ...

, which installed a

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

to administer it for them until abandoned in 1550. The castle fell to ruins in the centuries that followed.

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 Chambave ( Valdôtain: or ; Issime wae, Tschambuvu) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. The communal territory is crossed by the Dora Baltea (french: Doire baltée). Wine Growers in Chambave produce se ...

. 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

.Massetti

References

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 {{Authority control Castles in Aosta Valley