Castle of Bonneville

The castle of Bonneville also called Castle of the Sires of Faucigny is located on a rocky hillock at the foot of the Mole, built in the 13th century around 1260 by Beatrice de Faucigny on the advice of her father Peter II.

It is the only surviving example of medieval Savoyard military architecture in the Savoy region This vast building oriented East-West corresponds to the regular plan known as "Savoyard square": a quadrilateral with a cylindrical tower at each corner. Only two corner towers remain, linked by a curtain wall of 18 meters to the east. On the south wall, one can observe a Gothic window with double ogive, probably corresponding to the ceremonial room of the castle. Successively a seigneurial residence and then a count's residence, it became the seat of the châtellenie, following the fire of 1392 which destroyed the dwellings. From the 16th century, the castle was transformed into a prison, which saved it from ruin. It kept this assignment until 1934 and during the Second World War. The castle marks the birth of Bonneville and remains one of its most remarkable monuments. It has been listed in the Inventory of Historic Monuments since 1987. Its renovation continues every year.