I have a “thing” for castles, its bordering on slightly obsessive. I love the mystery, romance, and elegance that exude from them. I love exploring their expanses and picturing what life would have been like to live in one of them. So naturally I have been dying to go to Chateau de Chillon in Montreaux since we arrived. It is Switzerland’s most famous castle (from our house it is about an hour away via train and then a short bus ride). Last Sunday was a rainy day so we decided it was a perfect day to explore the castle. The day we visited there was some sort of “family day” in which the fee to enter the castle was completely waived. A free castle is even better than a regular castle! For 6 Swiss Francs we rented audio tours on iPods in the gift shop and set out on an hour tour of the castle. The castle has been around for over 1,000 years and here are some tid bits on the castle's three major periods of occupation:
The oldest written document mentioning the castle dates from 1150; it says that the House of Savoy already controlled the route along the shores of Lake Geneva.
The Swiss, more precisely the Bernese, conquered the Pays de Vaud and occupied Chillon in 1536. The castle retained it's role as a fortress, arsenal and prison for over 260 years.
The Bernese left Chillon in 1798 at the time of the Vaudois Revolution. The castle became the property of the Canton of Vaud when it was founded in 1803. The restoration of the historical monument began at the end of the 19th Century.
Compared to the other castles I have seen in Europe, this one was distinctly more “Swiss”, set in the middle of the blue Lake Geneva with the towering mountains in the foggy distance.
An interesting fact is that the town of Montreaux, where the castle is, actually has Mediterranean-like climate because it is surrounded on all sides by really tall mountains. Because of this, the town actually has palm trees, flowers, and balmy weather this time of year. It was strange to go only an hour away from Geneva and find palm trees and warmer weather! I have a feeling that we will frequent the town of Montreaux in the winter to enjoy the warmer weather (although the average temperature in Geneva isn’t supposed to be too bad, 40-50 degrees F on average in the “coldest” months). Of course up in the mountains it is MUCH colder, which is why skiing is so popular here (even in the summer you can ski on glaciers that always have snow).
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