Chillion castle

We will visit today one of the most visited castles in Europe - Château de Chillon. It is located on a little island on Lake Geneva so to get there, we need to take the little wooden bridge.

The castle was rebuilt several times, but it still keeps something medieval in its looks.

Which is quite amazing since just on the other side you can see the highway, having nothing to do with Middle Ages. 

The flag on top of the dungeon is the flag of canton Vaud. 

But the castle changed its owner and country affiliation more than once during the last centuries. Let's enter inside to discover some of this heritage.

The castle was built somewhere towards the end of the tenth century. In the twelfth century it became the summer house of Dukes of Savoy. Or one of many summer houses should I say.

In some of the rooms you can still find the coat of arms of Savoy.

The dukes made sure that they have enough space to eat and party. 

The duke had of course the most special place. Not yet a throne, no longer a chair. 

Though obviously it was not easy to heat large rooms at that time, even with really big chimneys.

The dukes had of course also a private chapel. It used to be covered with frescoes but little of their original beauty has survived.

The bedrooms were more modest. To be honest the bed looked child-sized. As you may remember from our trip to Malbork, people in the Middle Ages were shorter than today.

But this bath tube looks quite comfortable. 

Obviously the Chillion castle was not a place of comfort for all its residence. During religion wars in Europe, it was used as a prison. The most famous prisoner was François Bonivard, a monk from Geneva supporting the reformation. His "residence" in the basement was far from being comfortable.

The windows were high and let in only a limited amount of sunlight.

On top, they did not have glass, only bars.

The view on the Alps might have been splendid but in winter it was really cold. And humid.

Obviously the prisoners had little chance to admire the view since they were chained to pillars.

And they knew that their only way of leaving the place was in a coffin.

The reason why Bonivard is the most famous resident of the place is because he is the main character of a narrative poem written by Lord Byron - "The prisoner of Chillon". Byron visited the castle once and even left a signature on one of the pillars. What a vandal.

Let's leave this horrible prison. On the left you can see the duke's cellars. And yes, just next to the prisoners. The wines signed by Chillion castles are well known and are considered to be part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Lavaux vineyards".

The castle includes several courtyards.

The passages between each other are usually guarded by towers.

They are linked by passages that go also on higher level so that the security guard could keep an eye on the visitors.

Some of them go really high and are covered with wooden roofs.

I must say that Chillion castle proved to be an place both interesting and depressing. Long years of pain seem to be part of the rock on which it was built.