The Leper's Tower

In a corner of Aosta’s Roman wall, a tower has a name that raises eyebrows: the Leper’s Tower. Behind the name lies a true story, and a small book that travelled across Europe.

The Friour tower

The tower was built in the Middle Ages on top of an earlier tower of the Roman wall. It was first lived in by the noble Friour family, known from 1191, and was then called the Friour tower. It later passed to the Pléoz family. In the 15th century a square tower was added. It was entered by a covered outside staircase, linked to a spiral staircase serving the floors. A few Roman windows are still visible, almost all of them walled up.

Thirty years of isolation

Abandoned, the tower passed in 1773 to the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. The Order shut up there a man with leprosy from Oneglia, in Liguria: Pierre-Bernard Guasco. He lived there, apart from the town to avoid contagion, until 1803. The tower takes its name from him.

Xavier de Maistre’s novel

The Savoyard writer Xavier de Maistre knew Guasco in Aosta. In 1811 he published Le Lépreux de la cité d’Aoste (The Leper of the City of Aosta). The story tells of the meeting between a soldier passing through and a sick man alone in his garden. It speaks of solitude and suffering, with great restraint. The book made the tower famous.

Restored by d’Andrade

Around 1890 the tower was restored under the direction of Alfredo d’Andrade. It now belongs to the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley, which has used it as an exhibition room.

How to see it

Leper’s Tower
Via Torre del Lebbroso, at the corner of via Festaz
11100 Aosta (AO)

The tower is not open to the public. It can be seen freely from the street, a few steps from the regional library.

Maps: personal work by Marc Badjou.