Pala Castle

Pala Castle (Italian: Torre di Pala) is a tower in the municipality of San Vittore of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.[1]

Pala Castle
Tor di Pala Torre Palas
San Vittore
View from the village
Pala Castle Show map of Canton of Graubünden Pala Castle Show map of Switzerland
Coordinates	46°14′23.35″N 9°06′19.27″E
Type	hill castle
Code	CH-GR
Height	310 m above the sea
Site information
Condition	ruin
Site history
Built	12th century

History

The oldest part of the castle, the southern residential tower, may date to the late 12th century. It may have been built for a local noble, Albertus de sancto Victore, who is mentioned in 1168,[2] or for the Counts of Sax. In 1265 the castle first appears in a historical record with the Sax family as owners, though whether they built it or forced the original owners out is not recorded.[3] The larger northern tower was built in the second half of the 13th century, by the Counts of Sax.[4] The two towers were separated by a three meters (ten foot) wide gap and were linked by a bridge. Around 1400 the northern tower was raised to its present height of six stories and topped with a gable roof. At that time the castle was inhabited by either a cadet branch of the Sax-Misox family or by one of their vassals. Whoever it was, in the 15th century they died out and the castle was abandoned.[4]

The abandoned castle slowly fell into ruin. It was cleaned and stabilized in 1944 and again in 1997.[5]

Castle site

The two towers that make up the castle were built on a small terrace on a mountain north of the village of San Vittore. The southern tower has mostly collapsed and was probably used for apartments. The northern tower is still standing and has a modern roof added to protect it from the elements. The northern tower was built with several latrines and a drain along with numerous niches in the walls. The tower may have had a small ring wall which housed a few small buildings.[2]

Gallery

• 
  Ruins of the southern building and the gap between the two towers
• 
  Location of Torre Pala above the village
• 
  North and south towers
• 
  Window inside the north tower

See also

• List of castles in Switzerland

References

1. "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
2. "Burg Torre Palas". www.burgenwelt.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
3. San Vittore in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
4. "Graubuenden :Schloss San Vittore Torre Palas". www.swisscastles.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
5. "Torre di Pala". Federal Office of Civil Protection. Retrieved 13 April 2017.