Château de Chillon - Switzerland

The Château de Chillon is probably the most famous castle in Switzerland so it is not surprising that I've a few postcards of it in my collection. These aren't even all the cards I've. Several photos from different angles, seasons and hours of the day. The postcards also had several origins, my brother, an ex-cousin and two of them are official postcards.

Chillon Castle easily has one of the most spectacular locations for any European castle. Located on a rock on the eastern side of the picturesque Lake Geneva, Chillon Castle attracts visitors from all over the world throughout the year. In fact, it has the most visitors each year for any historic building in all of Switzerland.

Chillon has a rich history due to its significantly strategic location. Starting out as a Roman outpost, it controlled an essential Alpine pass. The actual history of the castle is divided into three significant periods: the Savoy Period, the Bernese Period, and the Vaudois Period.

 

Even though the exact date of the castle’s origins is not known, the first mention in historical records dates back to 1150. During the Middle Ages, the first significant renovations and extensions were made in the 13th century and onwards, when the castle was turned into a summer residence for the counts. It wasn’t long until the castle slowly fell into neglect due to being uninhabited for the most part of the year.

Edition PERROCHET S. A.

CH-109510, sent by Rita.

In 1536 the Bernese overtook the castle. For over two and a half centuries the castle was a significant fortress, arsenal, and prison under the Bernese rule in the region. Since the late 18th century the castle has been in the possession of the Canton of Vaud. The restoration campaign that was launched in the late 19th century is still ongoing.

The castle is open to visitors with several exhibitions and tours of the castle. - in: https://www.thecrazytourist.com

CH-4378.

It was made popular by Lord Byron, who wrote the poem The Prisoner Of Chillon (1816) about François de Bonivard, a Genevois monk and politician who was imprisoned there from 1530 to 1536. The castle is one of the settings in Henry James's novella Daisy Miller (1878).

Lake Leman lies by Chillon’s walls:

A thousand feet in depth below

Its massy waters meet and flow...

There are seven pillars of Gothic mould,

In Chillon’s dungeons deep and old,

There are seven columns massy and grey,

Dim with a dull imprison’d ray,

A sunbeam which hath lost its way… Lord Byron, The Prisoner of Chillon