Pala Castle

Pala Castle
	Tor di Pala; Torre Palas
	San Vittore
	View from the village
	Pala Castle Pala Castle
Coordinates	46°14′23.35″N9°06′19.27″E / 46.2398194°N 9.1053528°E Coordinates: 46°14′23.35″N9°06′19.27″E / 46.2398194°N 9.1053528°E
Type	hill castle
Code	CH-GR
Height	310 m above the sea
Site information
Condition	ruin
Site history
Built	12th century

Last updated April 30, 2019

Pala Castle (Italian : Torre di Pala) is a tower in the municipality of San Vittore of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.^[1]

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.

Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.

San Vittore is a municipality in the Moesa Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons.

History

The oldest part of the castle, the southern residential tower, may date to the late 12th century. It may have been built for a local noble, Albertus de sancto Victore, who is mentioned in 1168,^[2] or for the Counts of Sax. In 1265 the castle first appears in a historical record with the Sax family as owners, though whether they built it or forced the original owners out is not recorded.^[3] The larger northern tower was built in the second half of the 13th century, by the Counts of Sax.^[4] The two towers were separated by a three meters (ten foot) wide gap and were linked by a bridge. Around 1400 the northern tower was raised to its present height of six stories and topped with a gable roof. At that time the castle was inhabited by either a cadet branch of the Sax-Misox family or by one of their vassals. Whoever it was, in the 15th century they died out and the castle was abandoned.^[4]

The noble family von Sax were a medieval noble family in eastern Switzerland. They owned estates and castles on both sides of the Alps in the modern cantons of St. Gallen, Graubünden and Ticino. The origin of the family is unknown, but they probably stem from Churrätien nobility and were related to the da Torre family. The family divided into two main lines; the Grafen von Sax-Misox and the Freiherren von Hohensax.

Gable roof may have eaves or parapet; no rake overhanging

A gable roof is the classic, most commonly occurring roof shape in those parts of the world with cold or temperate climates. It consists of two roof sections sloping in opposite directions and placed such that the highest, horizontal edges meet to form the roof ridge. The design of this type of roof is achieved using rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of the roof and the height of the gutters can vary greatly.

In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch or patriarch's younger sons (cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, titles, fiefs, property and income—have historically been passed from a father to his firstborn son in what is known as primogeniture; younger sons—cadets—inherited less wealth and authority to pass to future generations of descendants.

The abandoned castle slowly fell into ruin. It was cleaned and stabilized in 1944 and again in 1997.^[5]

Castle site

The two towers that make up the castle were built on a small terrace on a mountain north of the village of San Vittore. The southern tower has mostly collapsed and was probably used for apartments. The northern tower is still standing and has a modern roof added to protect it from the elements. The northern tower was built with several latrines and a drain along with numerous niches in the walls. The tower may have had a small ring wall which housed a few small buildings.^[2]

Gallery

Ruins of the southern building and the gap between the two towers
Location of Torre Pala above the village
North and south towers
Window inside the north tower

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References

↑ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
1 2 "Burg Torre Palas". www.burgenwelt.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
↑ San Vittore in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
1 2 "Graubuenden :Schloss San Vittore Torre Palas". www.swisscastles.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
↑ "Torre di Pala". Federal Office of Civil Protection. Retrieved 13 April 2017.

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[1] "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

[BW-2] 1 2 "Burg Torre Palas". www.burgenwelt.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.

[HDS-3] San Vittore in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .

[SC-4] 1 2 "Graubuenden :Schloss San Vittore Torre Palas". www.swisscastles.ch. Retrieved 13 April 2017.

[heritage-5] "Torre di Pala". Federal Office of Civil Protection. Retrieved 13 April 2017.