Château de Chillon

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Château de Chillon is one of the most picturesque castles in Switzerland. I've seen the outside before, but I've never actually visited it. And since I have a thing for brave knights I behaved quite affirmative when the idea of visiting the castle was discussed at yesterday's breakfast.

The setting is perfect, although there is a highway quite close to it, but when you're in the castle you hardly notice this.

Pilar (on the left on the picture below) mentioned that the building has exactly the right size to suit her needs. She is an architect and measured the dimensions of the bedroom of the Counts of Savoy and found out that it has the size of an average apartment in Switzerland and that it was bigger than the castle's chapel.

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I was born and raised in a house that was built in 1613. That chest below was made in 1605. I was surprised to see similar decorative elements as in some furnitures and boiseries at my clan's residence.

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The castle 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; Byron also carved his name on a pillar of the dungeon (to the poem).

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