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Villages / Valais / Hérens district / Tour Tavelli

Tour Tavelli

Site Canton of Valais · District: Hérens · Uninhabited site (municipality of Vex)
Part of the municipality of Vex
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Tour Tavelli

The tower bears the name of the Tavelli family of Granges, who owned it through marriage from 1351. The moraine plateau on which it stands is called le Château.[1]

Founding of Tour Tavelli

The tower stands on the moraine plateau du Château, in the municipality of Vex. It was probably built in the mid-13th century by the lordship of Ayent. It guarded a fortified borough built on this plateau and controlled the Combioulaz path leading to the neighbouring settlements. The borough seems to have had two parts: to the west, the entrance with the octagonal tower, and to the east a castle with a keep, probably owned by the de La Tour family.[1]

History of Tour Tavelli

1197 and 1200. Dendrochronology dates to these two years the beams whose traces are still visible in the tower.[1]

mid-13th century. The lordship of Ayent reportedly had the tower built.[1][2]

1351. Through marriage, the tower passes to the Tavelli family of Granges.[1]

around 1417. The buildings of the borough are destroyed during the conflicts between the supporters of the Count of Savoy and those of the Bishop of Sion.[1]

1996. Works uncover the threshold of the entrance door, on the east side, and the remains of a paved floor.[1]

1996-2001. An archaeological investigation of the site is documented with plans, photographs and an analysis by Patrick Elsig.[3]

Historic sites in Tour Tavelli

Octagonal tower. The only remnant of the Tavelli castle, the tower has an octagonal plan, the only known example in 13th-century military architecture in Valais, and perhaps in Switzerland. Its door opened on the east side, about six metres above the ground. The lower openings were made later. An octagonal tower of the same period stands at Oyace, in the Valpelline.[1][2]

Remains in Tour Tavelli

Eastern castle. To the east of the borough stood a castle with a keep, probably owned by the de La Tour. It was destroyed, and erosion has carried away its remains.[1]

Sources

  1. Commune de Vex, patrimoine-vex.ch, « La tour Tavelli »
  2. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse), « Vex » (Catherine Raemy-Berthod, version du 03.01.2015, version allemande)
  3. Bibliothèque nationale suisse, HelveticArchives, Archives fédérales des monuments historiques, dossier « Vex, Tour Tavelli, 1996-2001 » (EAD-167503)
  4. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées de la ruine)

Other villages near Tour Tavelli

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