CASTELLO DELLA CONTESSA ADELAIDE SUSA

Some call the city of Susa the 'Gateway to Italy', as it was here that the Savoy dynasty entered Piedmont.
The date of its construction is uncertain, but Susa Castle was the scene of numerous vicissitudes that marked the history of the region. First and foremost was the transfer of the Marquises of Susa within its walls: Olderico Manfredi and his wife started their family here.
From an architectural point of view, the building has also undergone great transformations, so much so that only a few semblances of the ancient parts remain, also limited by the passage of time. The form we can see today derives from the work carried out in 1750 to celebrate the union between Carlo Emanuele III and the infanta Maria Antonia. All that remains of its medieval appearance are a few mullioned windows on the walls visible from the historic centre of the town.
Among the personalities passing through the castle, the figure of St Francis of Assisi emerges, on his pilgrimage to French territory.
Later in the centuries, when the Susa valley had by then returned to the possessions of the Savoy dynasty, the castle was the site of the meeting for the peace treaty of Chateau Cambresis in 1559. Nevertheless, the following century was characterised by conflicts with the French, who again saw the fortress at the centre of negotiations.
A long period of decadence followed, which led, in the Napoleonic era, to the confiscation of the castle from the Savoy family in favour of the municipality with the establishment of schools and later as a military and political centre.
Today Susa Castle houses the Civic Museum, the Library and the Historical Archives.

THE COUNTESS ADELAIDE

One of the great protagonists of the Valsusina scene was Countess Adelaide. Born from the union between Olderico Manfredi and Berta d'Este, at their death she inherited most of the possessions of her father, then Count of Turin and Marquis of Susa; these included the lands between Ivrea and Ventimiglia.

Unfortunately, numerous love affairs marked the life of the countess: widowed three times, Adelaide started the transalpine Savoy lineage by marrying Oddone of Savoy in 1045. Even on this occasion, however, the noblewoman outlived her husband and, showing an innate aptitude for governing, devoted herself to the management of her possessions and those of her late husband (Savoy and Maurienne).
The countess has always been remembered for her dedication to the papal figure and her ability to mediate with the temporal power of the emperor. This ability to juggle was soon converted into a form of power universally recognised and still remembered.
Her decisiveness in governing and her pleasantness with the people were the reasons why her information reached us, on the contrary, her face was not remembered and her tomb was never found.
At her side, among the most powerful and well-known brands of her time, we also find Matilda of Canossa: another modern female personality symbolising power.

For additional information, click here.