General view

Fénis Castle was built c. 1340 for Aimone de Challant on a sloping meadowside in the Val d'Aosta. It still possesses a much restored set of outer and inner curtain walls. These have, however, shrunk to a mere 5 meters in height, and their closeness to each other is such that the steeply sloping upper meadow comes to within a very modest distance of the main building that provides the real defensive strength. The tower above the gate is flanked immediately upon the left by a massive rectangular tower, which probably survives from an earlier date. A further round tower is only at a very small distance on the right. A series of such towers dominates the irregular mass completely enclosing a small trapezoidal courtyard. Two wooden balconies that surround the yard represent the principal inner ring of communication and contain the only major stairway between the three main levels.

View the plan of Fénis Castle.