Manor that belonged to the noble Challant family for centuries, the Castle of Issogne preserves the elegant and intact features of an elegant mansion dating back to the late 15th century. Many of the rooms are decorated with frescoes both in the representative areas and in the most private rooms. The castle, after a careful restoration campaign, presents itself today with some elements of the original furniture and other furnishings rebuilt at the end of the 19th century which together with numerous objects of domestic use re-propose the late fifteenth-century atmosphere.
Castello di Issogne History
A large wrought-iron fountain in the shape of a pomegranate dominates the courtyard of the Castle of Issogne and is the symbol of the Challant that, between the fifteenth and the sixteenth century made this construction (which in the twelfth century was the home of the bishop of Aosta) a luxurious Renaissance residence. Everything speaks of the noble family as in a self-congratulation, from the fruit tree that evokes the family genealogy to the "Miroir pour les enfants de Challant" on the internal facades of the courtyard, where you can see all the coats of arms of the various branches of the family. The visitor can descend into the daily life of a time and make a jump to the market or in the artisan shops with the help of the decorations of the lunettes of the hallways: the guardhouse, the tailor, the pharmacy, the butcher, the baker, the speziale and the pizzicagnolo are painted with realism and also with a bit of humor. They have been preserved since the fifteenth century, since the castle has never undergone major modernization.
Inside the castle there is everything: on the ground floor the dining room and kitchen and something really comfortable for those who served and prepared meals, a dish rack open in the wall under the chimney hood that connects them. Even in the hall of justice or low rooms there is a large stone fireplace, while the ceiling is made of painted wooden beams. The carved wooden gothic altar and the frescoes make the first floor chapel precious. On the second floor, the rooms with coffered ceilings, including the one of the "king of France decorated with lilies and the room of the" knights of San Maurizio "with the crosses of the Order.
At each castle his ghost and that of Issogne is the specter of the tormented Countess Bianca Maria, spotted for many years in the moonlight on the second-floor loggia. Bride of Renato of Challant but neglected by him, sought attention in the Milan courts. He had many lovers, but one of them made him kill because he stained his name. Sentenced to death for the murder, the countess was beheaded and since then has no peace.