Castles & ruins 43: Serravalle Castle, Ticino, CH

 

The castle's origins are uncertain, archaeological research shows there was fortified structure around 900 AD, on top of which the original castle was build. The first written mentions dated 1162, in document where Frederick Barbarossa appointed the lord of Blenio, Alcherio da Torre, as lord protector of the valley. He wasn't popular though and already in 1182 the people of the Blenio and Leventina valleys joined forces in an alliance and overthrow the castle's lord. The castle was razed to the ground and stayed in ruins until 13th century, when family de Orelli rebuild the castle again. 

It had several other owners, was besieged, destroyed and rebuild several more times until it was fully abandoned in 15^th century.

The Swiss Society of Castles and Ruins works on castle restoration since 1920s, today the castle ruins are free to visit any time of the year and findings are in display at local museum in Lottigna.

There are, of course, several myths about the castle. One of them tells how the Da Torre family came to own it.

According to the legend, the first Baron da Torre was not just a nobleman, but a brutal robber-lord who wanted complete control over the valley’s trade routes across the Lukmanier Pass. The free peasants of Blenio and Leventina resisted him again and again, and this made him furious. So the baron made a pact with the Devil. He gave away his own soul, and the souls of his bloodline, in exchange for military power, endless wealth, and a fortress no army could break. The Devil kept his side of the bargain. He helped raise an indestructible castle above the valley, and sent dark spirits to serve the Da Torre family and terrorize the people below.

The locals believed this cursed beginning explained why the Da Torre lords were so cruel. They ruled with unnatural malice, treating the people of the valleys like cattle and seeming impossible to defeat. But eventually the peasants of Blenio and Leventina could bear it no longer. They did something almost unheard of for medieval peasants: they joined together in a sacred blood oath called the Patto di Torre. Still, the castle stood on cursed foundations. Ordinary weapons could not bring it down. So the peasants had their pitchforks, knives, and axes blessed. Then, singing old protective chants, they climbed toward the fortress and broke the dark luck of the Da Torre family. They stormed the castle, dragged the lords out, and tore the fortress down to its foundation stones, so that nothing evil would remain. 

Later, the church of St Mary was built by the castle walls to keep the place pure. (still stands btw, with beautiful frescoes from the 14th century.)

But not all the darkness was driven away. Deep below the ruins, in the collapsed vaults and old underground passages, something survived. The locals call it La Cröiscia — a malevolent creature older than memory, hiding in the broken heart of the evil castle.

It outlived the Da Torre family. It outlived the wars. It outlived the fortress itself. And they say it is still there.

For generations, parents in the valley warned their children not to climb to the ruins after dusk. Because if they wandered too close, La Cröiscia would come out from the shadows and drag them down into the old dungeon beneath the stones. And it does!

Castle official site

From above: Serravalle