Sarriod de la Tour Castle was originally a typical of the style built between the 10th and 12th centuries, and was greatly expanded by Jean Sarriod in 1420 and his son, Antoine, in 1478. The north wing's ground floor features a wooden-ceilinged 'Hall of Heads', named for its decorative motifs.
The Sarriod de la Tour Castle was the family residence of the Sarriod family since its founding. The Sarriods were politically linked to the powerful Bard family in the County of Savoy. The oldest part of the castle included a chapel and square tower, or donjon, surrounded by the castle walls. In 1420 Jean Sarriod expanded upon the 'turris Sariodorum', as the donjon was known. The 'Hall of Heads', built in 1430, features 171 corbels of grotesques of mythological monsters and animals bearing coats of arms.
In 1478 Jean's son, Antoine Sarriod de la Tour, refurbished the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, by having painted the external frescoes of the Crucifix and Saint Christopher and caused to be built the small bell tower. The castle wall's circular and semi-circular towers were added sometime in the late 15th century, when a new entrance was created on the eastern side. In the 16th century a west-facing wing was added, then, in the 17th century, a north tower. The Sarriod family inhabited the castle until 1923. In that year the castle went to the Genoese Bensa family. Since 1970, it has been property of the autonomous Region Aosta Valley.
Sarriod de la Tour is open to visitors year round.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.