The majestic snow-capped peaks of the Alps against the bluesky, and under them - the incredible beauty of the endless Lake of Geneva ... Switzerland - a country extremely picturesque. The mountain air here is simply healing. No wonder Switzerland has become the first climatic resort for the treatment of lung diseases, in particular tuberculosis. And with the fashion for trekking, mountaineering and skiing, the popularity of this small country in the heart of Europe has only increased. But Switzerland has other attractions. No, this article will not talk about high-precision watches, chocolate or Swarovski rhinestones. France is considered to be the country of medieval castles. But Switzerland has no shortage of them either. Suffice it to recall at least the castles of Granson (de Grandson) or Chillon (Château de Chillon). And if the first one stands on the shore of Lake Neuchatel, thirty kilometers north of Lausanne, then the second one rises right above the waters of Leman. In this article we will tell about the Chateau de Chillon: how to get to the castle and what to see.
The ancient Romans, pushing the boundaries of their empireto the north, they opened this reservoir and called it Lacus Lemannus. With the formation of the Swiss Confederation, the lake became known as Geneva - the largest city on its shores. But later, people returned to the old name. And so it happened that the lake on the Russian maps is listed as Geneva, and in Europe - as Leman. This crescent-shaped reservoir is located on the border between France and Switzerland. He stretches from west to east for seventy kilometers. The North Coast is a solid chain of luxury resorts, united under the common name of the Swiss Riviera. Perhaps the hallmark of Lehmann is the Geneva Fountain. For the past hundred and twenty years, he has uninterruptedly ejected a stream of water to a height of 150 meters. The thirteenth-century St. Peter’s Cathedral is a peculiar architectural dominant of Geneva. The capital of the canton of Vaud Lausanne is the second largest city on Lake Geneva. Here is a very mild microclimate that allows you to grow grapes. At one time, Mozart, Byron, Hugo, Dickens and other famous personalities rested in Lausanne. And in the nearby town of Vevey Charlie Chaplin lived his last years. The grave of the most famous comedian is in the city cemetery. Dostoevsky and Gogol, Ernest Hemingway visited Vevey. Yverdon-les-Bains has the only natural sandy beach on Lake Geneva. It also beats the healing sources that created the town fame balneological resort. And finally, lovely Montreux. This town is located on a low hill near the majestic Alpine mountains and Lake Geneva. It is here that Chillon Castle is located.
Montreux is located on the east coast.Lake Geneva, just forty kilometers from Lausanne. Of the great Russian celebrities, Leo Tolstoy, Igor Stravinsky and Pyotr Tchaikovsky visited here, and Vladimir Nabokov lived here his last seventeen years. Montreux is known as a resort for active people. It has many golf and yacht clubs, riding centers. Skiers ply the surface of the lake, climbers climb the cliffs, and lovers of hiking walk along the surrounding slopes. Montreux is also known for its gardeners. Whenever you come, the city will delight you with a lush flowering - from primroses and tulips to chrysanthemums and cyclomenes. Four kilometers from Montreux is its main attraction - Chillon Castle. You can reach it by the highway A9. Near the castle there is free parking. A bus number 1 runs from Montreux to Chillon every ten minutes. A visit to the castle museum will cost you twelve francs for an adult, and a child is twice as cheap.
Chillon towers on a small rock sticking outfrom the bottom of Lake Geneva. The castle is connected to the shore by a bridge. It was built Chillon in a strategically important place. After all, the Saint-Bernard Pass is not far away. Thus, the fortress controlled the main route from Europe to Italy. The history of the castle, according to research scientists, begins with the ninth century. But the present appearance of Chillon took in the thirteenth century, under Peter the Savoy. Archaeologists also find Roman coins in this place, although there is no information about the presence of a camp or a strengthening of antiquity. The first written certificate of the castle Castrum Quilonis dates back to the year 1160. Even then it was the main residence of the Dukes of Savoy. In 1253, Pierre II conceived a grand restructuring of the castle, which lasted (with short interruptions) until the fifteenth century. But those twenty-five buildings in the three courtyards of the citadel that we see now were built by the architect Pierre Meunier in the middle of the thirteenth century.
From the fourteenth century, pilgrims and merchants,the next to Italy, the St. Gothard Pass became increasingly active. Chillon castle gradually lost its original meaning - control over the main path. The dukes of Savoy began to use not so much the chambers of the fortress as its dungeons. During the time of the Black Plague (1347), Jews were tortured in dungeons, extorting confessions from them that they had poisoned their sources with a terrible disease. Then the dukes of Savoy — ardent Catholics — held the Huguenots in prisons, burning them as heretics in one of the inner courtyards. During the witch hunt, the same fate awaited women accused of witchcraft. Those who died in the dungeons of hunger and torture, the guard threw into the Lake of Geneva through special windows. All these atrocities continued until May twenty-ninth, 1536, until the Protestants of Bern took the castle after two days of siege. In 1798, when the canton of Vaud became independent, the citadel became its property. Soon a museum was opened in the castle.
Quite a few eminent persons languished in the basements of the citadel.Here, for example, the abbot Valau of Corvey, who was imprisoned in Chillon castle by order of the French king Louis the Pious. Or the great chancellor of Savoy, Guillaume de Bolomier, who a century after the campfire of the Jews was drowned in the Lake of Geneva near the walls of the citadel. But the most famous prisoner of the castle was Francois Bonivard. He was a prior at the monastery of San Victor in Geneva, and when he began to support the ideas of the Reformation, he immediately fell into disgrace from the Duke of Savoy Charles III, an ardent Papist. From 1532 to 1536, Francois Bonivard "without trial" spent in prison of Chillon castle, chained to a pole. And, most likely, a part of Guillaume de Bolomier would have been waiting for him if the Protestants from Bern had not taken the fortress by storm.
In the summer of 1816 the English poet George GordonByron visited Lake Geneva (Switzerland). Among other sights, he visited a medieval castle towering directly out of the water. In the fortress Byron told the story of Francois Bonivard. Shocked by what he heard, he wrote a poem “The Chillon Prisoner”. In the basement of the castle is preserved pillar. The poet was told that the great Huguenot was chained to this crossbar for four years. And Byron left his autograph on the historic pillar. Chillon Castle in Montreux also mentioned Percy Shelley, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. Such famous personalities as Auguste Flaubert, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Hans Christian Andersen visited the fortress.
Thanks to the poem, the fortress became a worldcelebrity In the XIX century, medieval buildings did not favor, turning them into barracks or warehouses. But Chillon Castle was the lucky exception. Already in 1887, the Association for the Preservation of the Monument was established. The authorities of the canton of Vaud also did not remain on the sidelines, and in 1891 the castle was awarded the status of a historical monument. And in 1939, a hundred thousand people visited the museum-fortress.
This is the most famous architecturallandmark of Switzerland. Lake Geneva and Chillon Castle look like one organic whole. From a height it seems as if the ship docked near the shore. The castle consists of twenty-five buildings in three courtyards. In the center towers the donjon. The only religious building - the castle chapel. There are preserved paintings of the XIV century. Visitors are guided through a suite of pompous chambers. This is a festive, knightly, coat of arms, a guest room, a county bedroom. No less interesting is the prison. The vault with a vaulted ceiling resembles a Gothic cathedral. To get the maximum pleasure from the excursion, you must purchase a brochure in Russian at the checkout.
