On 18 June 2008 more than 4000 people packed the park for Bob Dylan's last concert in Italy. The castle behind the stage, though, is not really a castle: it is a period pastiche, built in 1911 to a design by the engineer Carlo Saroldi for baron Charles-Maurice Gamba, husband of Angélique d'Entrèves.
What to see
The building is compact, almost a cube, with a heavy square tower in the middle and at least four floors; its south side drops straight to the Dora Baltea and is easy to pick out from the motorway. Since 2012 it has housed the Aosta Valley museum of modern and contemporary art: the regional picture collection, around 150 works, fills thirteen rooms on the first and second floors, while the third floor and the tower lantern take the temporary shows, opened with paintings by Italo Mus. The park, open all year, keeps three protected trees: the giant sequoia planted in 1888 beside the castle reaches 37 metres, and a century-old honey locust and a bald cypress stand a little further on.
Visiting
The castle reopened on 27 October 2012, after the 2011 restoration, conceived as the region's hub for modern art; some works are still waiting for a place and are kept in a store-room open by appointment. The park, with its paths, benches and wooden fountain, is free to wander and is the part locals use most.
Our editors' tip
Short on time? Go straight to the third floor: the temporary shows change, and the lantern above gives you the valley from above. Then look for the sequoia down in the park, the only thing here older than the castle.
