The story of Chillon Castle

When you go down into the dungeon, look at the pillars: Lord Byron is said to have carved his name on one of them. He was inspired by the story of François de Bonivard, a Genevan monk and prior imprisoned here for six years from 1530, and in 1816 he wrote the poem The Prisoner of Chillon.

Bonivard was freed in 1536, when a Bernese army captured the castle. Chillon stands on a small, steep limestone rock in Lake Geneva, and its position was strategic: it guarded the road between the Vaud Riviera and the Rhone valley, the quick route to Italy, and a garrison here could collect a toll.

A square keep was built on the island in the 11th century, and Count Peter II of Savoy greatly expanded the castle in 1248. The Bernese stayed until 1798. By 1939 over 100,000 visitors came each year, and by 2005 that number had reached 300,000.