Saint Germain Castle, Montjovet and Aosta Valley, Italy – late Dec 2020 (Videos)

 

Short videos of the view of the mountains and valley around Saint Germain castle, Montjovet, Aosta Valley, Italy.

 

Mount Matterhorn is about 30 km to the north of this castle.

 

 

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Living by the Castle – Video postcards from my quarantine Lockdown2 Aosta Valley, Italy.

Simona, daughter of a painter and a musician, sending you the best MERRY CHRISTMAS wishes from my ancestor’s place.

The castle played an important part in the history of Val d’Aosta. Few traces remain of its original structure and its construction date is not known for certain.

At the end of the 13th century, the Savoy became the owners, replacing the Montjovet family. As already happened in Bard, in this case too, the pretext was provided by the abuse of power that Feidino Montjovet acted on villagers and wayfarers. 

 

The castle was later sold to the Challant family but returned to the Savoy in 1438, when Amadeus VII installed a garrison there, which remained active until 1661, when it was transferred to the fortress in Bard, leaving Montjovet castle open to decay.

 

 

https://youtu.be/VXvvwWl6gM0 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simona Cochi unveiling the narrowest passage in Aosta Valley.
 

One of the several hypotheses of the passage of Hannibal from the Alps is that the leader passed at the foot of the castle of Saint Germain (built later in the year 1100).
 

In any case, the place where Simona brought you during the second lockdown (Christmas time 2020) is well known as one of the pilgrim’s stops of the Via Francigena. The great European itinerary crosses territories of extraordinary beauty, which deserve to be explored at your leisure. Forgotten villages, authentic flavors, enchanting landscapes to cross slowly, on foot or by bicycle.

Montjovet (Valdôtain: Mondjouet) is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. Montjovet lies in the lower Aosta Valley, between France and Switzerland. Though it only has an area of 18.7 square kilometers, the commune has 50 villages and hamlets, and a number of hills, the highest of which is Mont Lyan, at 2174 meters. Historically, the parish was under the control of the Bishop of Aosta. The current main parish church, Parrocchia della Natività della Vergine Maria, opened in 1837.

The parish has a long history and was mentioned as being under the control of the Bishop of Aosta in Pope Alexander III’s ecclesia Sancti Eusebii de Plubeio of 20 April 1176. In the 13th century, a massive landslide altered a lot of the terrain in the commune, destroying the original parish church. The seat of the parish was at Borso for a period, and it was originally administered by diocesan priests. It was ceded in 1433 to the provost of Saint-Gilles of Verrès, which it remained under until the mid 18th century when it was returned to Borso. For a period, the Challant family of nobles had the right to appoint the parish priest at the Parrocchia della Natività della Vergine Maria church.

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