The first fortification on the site of the present Chillon Castle was built around the 9th century. Its purpose was to watch the road from Avanche to Italy through the pass of Grand-Saint-Bernard along Lake Geneva. The property of the Bishop of Sion, who enlarged it, then of the counts of the Savoy dynasty (from 1150), in the middle of the 13th century, Chillon acquired its present features.
The castle and its dungeons served several times as a state prison, the most the most famous prisoner of which is Bonivar. Abbot of St Victor's Cathedral in Geneva, François de Bonivard wanted to bring about a reformation in Geneva. His theses were not to the liking the Duke of Savoy, who had a vested interest in the city and was a fervent defender of Catholicism. Bonivar was arrested and thrown into the castle dungeon that bears his name. his name. For four years he remained chained to a column. The stone still bears the footsteps of a prisoner freed by the Bernese in 1536. While travelling in Chillon in 1816 on a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. (born in Geneva), the English poet Byron praised the prisoner Bonivar in his poem "The Prisoner of Chillon". "The Prisoner of Chillon. This contributed to making Chillon Castle one of the most popular attractions in Switzerland.
The dungeons, which served as an armoury for the Bernese navy in the 17th and 18th centuries, with beautiful lancet vaults, were carved directly into the rock. В Bonivar Dungeon, Byron carved his name on the third column.
The Great Hall with the Savoy coat of arms has a magnificent ceiling and an imposing fireplace dating back to the 15th century. в. Attractive oak columns, beautiful furniture and a collection of pewter crockery. In the ancient Celebration Hall, decorated with a wooden ceiling in the shape of an inverted underwater part of a ship. inverted underwater part of a ship, is now a museum of arms. (a musket decorated with mother-of-pearl and bone, the butt of which can be used to store gunpowder), armour, armour and gunpowder. gunpowder), armour, pewterware and furniture. In the spacious Knight's or Coat of Arms Hall. hall on the walls are coats of arms of Bernese officials.
From the roof of the donjon, which can be reached by climbing a narrow staircase, offers a beautiful view of Montreux, the lake and the Alps.
