Savoy Castle
   Photo: Castle of Savoy

Savoy Castle, which stands at the foot of a hill in the town Rantsola Gressoney-Saint-Jean in the Italian region of Val d'Aosta and also known as the Castle of Queen Marguerite, was built between 1899 and 1904 years. It dominates the entire valley to the glacier lyskamm. It is in this castle for many years until his death in 1926 lived Queen Margherita, widow of Umberto I.

Architect Emilio Stramuchchi, who was the author of Neo-Baroque decor Palazzo Reale in Turin and the Quirinal in Rome, designed a castle in the medieval style, described as "the Lombard style of the 15th century", which was typical of the House of Savoy and the French architecture of the period .  The castle consisted of the main building of rectangular shape with four pointed towers, different from each other, and the outside was made of gray stone from the quarries Gressoney, Gaby and Vert .  Inside, it was divided into three levels - the first living quarters, the second - the apartments of the royal family, and the third, now closed to the public, was intended for members of the royal court .  Under the ground are wine cellars and warehouses .  Unfortunately, up to now remained only some fragments of the original atmosphere of the castle, including the tapestries of linen and cotton .  Also noteworthy ornaments brush Kussetti Carlo, who later worked on the decoration of the Palazzo Reale in Turin, coffered ceilings, imitating the medieval wooden panels and furniture by Deller .  The greater part of the current furniture was brought to Villa Margarita, where the queen lived before the construction of the castle . 

The main entrance, located on the ground floor leads into a spacious hall with columns and a painted coffered ceilings, and from there you can get to other rooms. On one side are the gaming rooms and rest rooms are connected with a semicircular terrace facing the valley. On the other hand - a dining room with richly decorated walls, a fireplace and a "parchment" wood paneling. The so-called "service entrance" in the octagonal tower in the north-west wing of the castle is also made in the Gothic Revival style.

An elegant wooden staircase with griffins and eagles leads to the royal apartments. Bedroom Queen Margaret took the best position - and offer superb views of Monte Rosa and the entire valley. In the next room lived Crown Prince Umberto, and on the opposite side of the apartment is located awnings Dog di Villamarina, the court of honor of the queen.

Castle kitchen was in a separate building just to the side and was connected to the main building via an underground narrow-gauge railways. For other offices concerned Villa Belvedere, where guests stayed the castle and the royal guards, and the little house in which he lived the royal poet and singer Romitadzho Carducci. At the foot of the castle of Savoy was broken rock garden with alpine plants.

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