For more than a century the castle of Quart was a farm: in 1874 the comune sold it to a private family who set up an agricultural business inside, and the building lost much of its character. It now belongs to the Region, which bought it in 1991 and has kept it under scaffolding since 2010; when the restoration ends it will house the Valdostan ethnographic museum.
What to see
The castle sits on a promontory that falls away on two sides at the mouth of the Valsainte, and its outline is recognisable enough to have ended up on the comune's coat of arms. The oldest part goes back to 1185 and to Jacques de la Porte de Saint-Ours, founder of the lords of Quart; when the last heir, Henri, died in 1378 the castle passed to the Savoy, who reworked it thoroughly.
Visiting
The restoration is not finished and openings are occasional, but the walk around the castle works in any season: the path starts here, passes prehistoric cup marks, carries panels on flora, fauna and geology and ends at the hermitage of the Blessed Emeric, where a meadow is set up for picnics. Below the castle, on the hillside, lies the village of Vollein with the Neolithic necropolis found in 1968.
Our editors' tip
Anyone turning up hoping to get inside may find the gate shut: check first, and count on the footpath either way. It is from up there that you understand why the lords of Quart chose this spur and no other.