Castel Sajori: A Medieval Fortress Above Chizzola in Italy
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Austria-Hungary, Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page13 sections
History
Castel Sajori is a medieval castle in Italy, built by the Castelbarco family above Chizzola in the municipality of Ala. Construction began in the twelfth century, probably around a chapel dedicated to Saint George. Medieval documents call it the Castle of San Giorgio, while the name Sajori developed from the abbreviation Castrum S. Jori. Together with the lower Castle of Chizzola and the Castle of Serravalle, it formed part of a fortified line blocking the Adige Valley.
The Castelbarco inheritance
The earliest surviving information dates to 1218, when San Giorgio became part of the possessions of the Castelbarco family, a powerful feudal dynasty active in Trentino and Vallagarina. On 27 June that year, Briano, son of the late Aldrighetto, granted the castle to his sons Azzone and Aldrighetto after they reached legal majority. The two brothers then swore fealty to Prince-Bishop Federico Wanga. A prince-bishop combined ecclesiastical authority with territorial and feudal rule, and in medieval Trentino such rulers could grant castles and their associated rights as fiefs.
Azzone’s will, dated 7 July 1265, assigned his castles and feudal rights to his sons Alberto, Bonifacio, Leonardo, Guglielmo, and Federico. On 14 December 1270, the inheritance was divided into five portions. The portions containing San Giorgio, Chizzola, Serravalle, Suscignalo, and Barco went to Alberto, Federico, and Guglielmo. Bonifacio received the Castle of Rovione at Brentonico and established a separate Rovione branch of the family.
Conflict and divided ownership
In February 1297, Bonifacio’s sons Alberto, Abriano, and Aldrighetto seized Pradaglia, Chizzola, San Giorgio, and Paldo of Mori during a conflict with their uncle Guglielmo the Great. The struggle ended in September, partly through the intervention of a military contingent led by Bartolomeo Della Scala, a member of Verona’s ruling della Scala family. The Rovione branch lost importance after the conflict.
Guglielmo the Great died in 1320 after leaving wills dated 28 June 1316 and 13 August 1319. Both stated that the territory of Brentonico in the lower Vallagarina, including San Giorgio, Chizzola, Serravalle, and several other castles and territories, would pass to Guglielmo, son of the late Azzone. San Giorgio nevertheless remained partly in the hands of the Rovione branch. Following an investiture by Bishop Enrico in 1321 and confirmation by Prince-Bishop Nicolò di Bruna in 1339, Giovanni, son of the late Abriano and grandson of Bonifacio of Castelbarco, held half of the castle.
When Giovanni’s grandson Antonio died in 1387, the Rovione branch became extinct. Its possessions were divided in 1388 among Azzone Francesco of the Avio branch and the Castelbarco families of Albano and Gresta. Giovanni of Castelbarco and his second wife, Viride di Pepoli, used San Giorgio as their residence. On 26 January 1388, Prince-Bishop Alberto of Ortenburg granted the castle as a fief to Azzone Francesco.
Venetian claims and abandonment
Azzone Francesco’s will of 7 July 1410 stipulated that his inheritance would pass to the Republic of Venice if his only heir, Ettore, died. Ettore died in 1411, and Venice sent the captain Jacopo de’ Redussi to claim the inherited possessions. In 1440, the Betta dal Toldo family of Rovereto purchased the Castle of San Giorgio. Although the castle remained legally inalienable Church property belonging to the Church of Trento, Prince-Bishop Giorgio Hack was unable to recover it from Doge Cristoforo Moro.
The castle’s condition and status at the end of the fifteenth century are uncertain. It was probably used as an observation post for the Venetian field at Serravalle and Chizzola. In 1508, during the conflict between the Habsburgs and Venice, the Venetian commander Giorgio Emo fortified Serravalle and Chizzola. Venice evacuated those positions, including San Giorgio, in 1509 after the forces of Maximilian I of Habsburg attacked and occupied the castles of the Lagarina Valley. Maximilian was the Habsburg ruler whose forces challenged Venetian control in the valley.
San Giorgio had already been abandoned for a considerable time by then, and the network of routes associated with it had lost importance. A record from 1523 describes the Castle of Saint George above the village of Ala-Chizzola as ruined. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Duke of Vendôme occupied routes on Monte Baldo and prepared them for fortification in 1703. The French army apparently mined the Castle of San Giorgio during its withdrawal.
Twentieth-century military works
The whole castle area was fortified during the First World War. These later defenses became intermingled with the medieval remains, leaving the site with evidence from both the original fortress and modern wartime military activity.
Remains
Castel Sajori stands at approximately 669 metres above sea level on a rocky knoll above the hamlet of Chizzola. Only ruins survive, and the deterioration of the complex makes it difficult to identify every original part. The medieval structures are intermingled with First World War fortifications. The castle occupied an elliptical area of approximately 1,800 square metres, enclosed by a surrounding wall that reaches about 1 metre in thickness and about 8 metres in height.
Enclosure and construction
Surrounding wall
The enclosure was built with large stones laid in roughly horizontal courses and set with brick wedges. This dry-laid appearance is combined with a filling of rubble, small stones of varying sizes, and brick, while lime mortar served as a binder. Some sections preserve brick floor structures. On the western side, the curtain wall rests directly on the rock, and substantial areas of dark-grey plaster remain on its surface.
Internal division
The interior was divided into two roughly equal sectors by walls made of dark-grey limestone. The surviving arrangement provides the main indication of the castle’s internal organization, although the later military works and the decay of the medieval fabric make the original plan difficult to reconstruct in full.
Principal medieval structures
North-eastern tower
A square tower measuring approximately 8 by 8 metres occupied the north-eastern sector. Its position within the enclosed plan identifies it as one of the principal surviving elements of the medieval complex.
South-eastern buildings
Three separate structures can be identified in the south-eastern sector. Their functions are uncertain because of the deterioration, but the largest measures approximately 7 by 12 metres and contains an arched opening that was probably a doorway before it may have been converted into a window. It may have served as a reception hall.
The opening was constructed from roughly squared blocks of white Castione stone and brick laid in horizontal courses. Its exterior carried a trefoil border, an ornament formed from three rounded lobes, with floral decoration. A step was cut into the masonry beneath it, while four nearby holes held wooden beams that probably supported a floor. One wall retains a circular, bowl-like recess with part of its plaster. An interpretation associated with Gorfer identifies this feature as a possible place of worship within the castle.
Floors and roof remains
The original flooring and roof have not survived. A large quantity of roof tiles remains on the ground, providing physical evidence of the former covering even though the roof structure itself has disappeared.
