Cly Castle
{{Short description|Castle in Saint-Denis, Aosta Valley}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name=Cly castle
| location=Aosta Valley, Italy
| image=Castello di Cly 01.JPG
| image_size = 300px
| caption=Cly castle ruins
| pushpin_map= Italy Aosta Valley#Italy North#Italy
| pushpin_relief = y
| pushpin_mapsize=
| coordinates = {{coord|45.749302|7.560353|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| height=2520 ft.
| controlledby=Municipality of Saint-Denis
| built=1207
| builder=Challant family
}}
Cly is a castle in the Italian municipality of Saint-Denis, in Aosta Valley, northwest Italy. It belongs to the so-called primitive style of castle, consisting of a keep with a surrounding wall. The ruins rise from a bed of metamorphic rock, on the edge of a fault line which extends to the Quart Castle.Francesco Prinetti, Andar per sassi. Le rocce alpine fra natura e cultura. Valle d'Aosta, Canavese, Valsesia, Quart, éd. Musumeci, 2010, pp. 36-37, {{ISBN|978-88-7032-857-8}}.
History
Cly was first mentioned in a document from 1207, in which the "chapel sancti Mauricij (Saint Maurice) de castro Cliuo" is mentioned among the goods of the Vicarage of Saint-Gilles in Verrès, 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, in 1376 the direct ownership passed to the Duchy of Savoy, which installed a castellan to administer it for them until abandoned in 1550. The castle fell to ruins in the centuries that followed.[http://www.naturaosta.it/castles.htm Aosta Valley Castles], accessed on 12th March 2015.
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 Chambave.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.lovevda.it/en/database/8/castles-and-towers/saint-denis/cly-castle/1220 Cly Castle] - Aosta Valley Tourism Board (Office du Tourisme de la Vallée d'Aoste), accessed March 12th, 2015.
{{Castles in Aosta Valley}}
{{Authority control}}