Castel Savoia — Attraction in Gressoney-Saint-Jean

This summer residence castle was built for the Queen Margherita of Savoy from 1899 to 2004. It must have been a major undertaking, just like the Margherita refuge that was constructed for her mountain excursions on Monte-Rosa above 4000 m altitude. You are obliged to visit the castle with a guide which will give you all the stories and anecdotes you need to understand what was going on in the royal family in the beginning of the 20th century. I had an excellent and fun guide. The only problem is that you need to have a rather good knowledge of Italian to follow the stories you are told since all guides appear to speak Italian only. When I visited a Friday mid June of 2025, the magnificent interior main stairs were unfortunately under restoration so this section was closed. You had to mount to the first floor via the main tower in a staircase that was used by her guards. The restoration of the castle after it had been purchased by the region of Aosta had managed to recover parts, but far from all of the original furniture. There is one of the rooms on the 1st floor where there are photographs documenting how it looked like in daily life at the time the queen was here as well as of her husband Umberto I. The view from the glassed veranda over parts of Monte-Rosa...

This is a wonderful castle that has been conceived and built in the early 20th century, in the style of a medieval castle, but with all the technology and modern comforts of the time. For example, electricity for lighting, a central heating system and a telephone.. this large mansionhouse was built based upon the desires of the Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of the King Umberto I, and a great admirer of the Aosta Valley, and in particular of the Gressoney Valley. The decorations throughout the castle reflect the heraldic symbols, coats of arms and mottos of the House of Savoy. A guided tour is highly recommended, given the added value of all the historical, symbolic decorations and biographic information one can get. The garden around the castle is very nice and interesting as well, as it is in fact quite a botanical garden where plant species from all over the world are represented. The visit of the whole property is highly recommended, as is a...

About 2 weeks ago, we went to the mountain resort 1385 meters above the sea called Gressoney-Saint-Jean (Aosta Valley), where Castel Savoia is located. There is the Lyskamm Glacier and the Monte Rosa Mountains as a spectacular backdrop.Queen Margherita loved the mountains with all her heart. The guide told me that Gressoney-Saint-Jean was not very popular at that time, but the queen was invited by a German baron to stay at his private villa in 1889. Later on, she wanted to build a private residence in the valley, which was built at an altitude of 1,440 meters above sea level. It was designed by architect Emilio Stramucci and took 5 years to build (completed in 1904).There is a botanical garden in front of the castle. It is a rock garden where they plant mountain flowers. While driving up there, you will find lovely mountain villages. But what I like most is Gressoney-Saint-Jean. We got lucky to see a flower market by chance. What a...