Chillon Castle – a fantastic location on Lake Geneva

The castles, built in the so-called Savoyard style, are square in shape with round towers at each corner. Chillon Castle, on the other hand, has adopted the oval shape of the rocky island on which it was built.

The castle is surrounded by a natural moat filled with lake water. It therefore belongs to the category of moated castles. The building is connected to the land via a bridge (there used to be a drawbridge in its place, the wooden rollers of which can still be seen today). Chillon has two different faces: the north-facing façade, pierced by embrasures and crowned by machine guns, forms the castle. She guarded and monitored the road called the Via Francigena. To the south, on the lake side, magnificent Gothic windows dominate the picture: this is where the princely residence is located. From here you can admire the typical landscape of the Vaud Riviera - Lake Geneva and the mountains. In the middle of the castle is the keep and its treasury, which are connected to the battlements via a residential building. Here you can still dream about what it would be like to be a castle guard... The rooms in Chillon are spread around three courtyards. During feudal times they all had different functions. For example, they served as an apartment for the castle administrator, known as the castellan, or represented the chambers of the lord of the castle.

Explore the castle on your own! At the checkout you will receive a brochure (available in 19 languages) and a castle map to help you orientate yourself. Of course, you can also just take a chance! Visiting the fortified island takes between one and a half and two hours. However, there are no restrictions on visiting hours other than the end of opening hours! On the tour of the permanent exhibition there are touchscreens with headphones on which eight short films (3-4 minutes) can be viewed.

In the keep there is also an impressive weapons hall, the exhibition of which is accompanied by the sounds of a battlefield, and in the crypt, young and old can be enchanted by medieval silhouettes.

https://www.chillon.ch