Issogne Castle
The castle of Issogne is a beautiful mansion of the late 15th century, belonged to the Challant family. But this wonderful castle has also a sad story. It seems that on moonlight nights the diaphanous figure of Bianca Maria Scapardone, the first wife of René of Challant, moves in the courtyard holding a head and tries to kiss men…just only if they are handsome and young!In the early Middle Ages, on the site of Issogne Castle, there was already a huge villa, which was rebuilt for the needs of the bishops of Aosta. In XIV in Aimone Challant, the owner of the Verres castle, captured the castle of Issone, he turned the harsh bishop's residence into an elegant castle in the Gothic style. Later, between 1490 and 1510, thanks to Giorgio di Challant, abbot of the monastery of Sant Orso in Aosta, to the castle was given a modern look.New buildings were connected to the existing main building and formed a single complex in the shape of a horseshoe. The entrance to the palace is through the courtyard, which shows the emblems of the Challant family. In the centre of the courtyard there is the famous wrought iron fountain in the form of pomegranate.
The portico is decorated with frescoes depicting everyday scenes (guard squad, baker's shop, fruit and vegetable market, spice seller and grocery store - this is the earliest images of the famous Fontina cheese).The graffiti of the castle found in the chapel and in all castle can be considered ritual and performative acts, visually documenting conversations among diverse audiences in the late medieval and early modern periods. At the castle, visitors inscribed graffiti on figures and scenes to represent their responses to key social issues.On the ground floor there is a dining room furnished with furniture of the 15th century, a kitchen, a hall of Justice, a large fireplace decorated with a family coat of arms and frescoes with hunting scenes and the “Court of Paris”.On the second floor are the rooms of the Countess and Count Renato, a chapel with lancet vaults and frescoes.On the third floor there is a room of the "king of France", room of the Cavaliers of St. Maurizio is decorated with a beautiful coffered ceiling with a cross of this order.
