Avigliana Castle, Medieval castle ruins on hilltop in Avigliana, Italy

Avigliana Castle is a ruined fortress on the summit of Monte Pezzulano at 467 m, above the town at the mouth of the Susa Valley. Sources describe a massive construction with tall towers; today only stretches of wall remain, and the site looks over the Avigliana lakes, the morainic hill of Rivoli and the Sacra di San Michele.

Built in 924 by Arduin, marquis of Turin, the castle guarded the exit of the Susa Valley. It passed to the House of Savoy through the marriage of Odo I and Adelaide of Susa around 1046. Humbert III was born there in 1136 and Amadeus VII in 1360. French troops under Marshal Catinat destroyed it with mines in May 1691, and it was never rebuilt.

The name Avigliana comes from the Latin Avilianum, and the castle gave the town its medieval core: the borgo grew along the Via Francigena at the foot of Monte Pezzulano. Local tradition keeps the legend of a French payroll chest buried in the grove right of the entrance, marked by a boulder with an arrow.

A walking path from the town center leads up to the ruins on a moderate uphill route that takes about 20 minutes. Wear sturdy shoes since the ground is uneven and some sections become steep.

The lakes below are morainic, not volcanic: they formed behind debris left by ancient glaciers. The ruins also carry legends: French soldiers are said to have buried a chest of officers' pay in the grove right of the entrance, and a boulder with an arrow is said to point toward it.