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Founded: 12th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)
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The Château de Murs, perched on the heights of Murs near the Vaucluse mountains, was built between the 12th and 18th centuries.
The oldest remains, dating back to the 12th century, were built by the d'Agoult family as a fortified garrison with ramparts and a tower, now located in the western part of the current castle. Around the same time, a village church served both as a chapel and parish, featuring a small cloister.
In the 13th century, the 'Maison Crillon' was built as a residence for visiting lords. In 1462, the property was transferred to the Astouaud family, who expanded and refined the castle, adding a central keep with a chapel and justice hall. In the Renaissance period, they built a new house beside the Maison Crillon.
In the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste François d’Astouaud, Marquis of Murs, added gardens and a grand iron gate bearing the family coat of arms. By the French Revolution, the castle had fallen into neglect.
Restoration began in the mid-19th century, led by the Vayson family. The poet and artist Paul Vayson, a descendant, described the castle’s haunting beauty, with its ivy-covered walls, crumbling battlements, and nesting swallows.
Complete restoration was achieved in the mid-20th century. Today, the castle remains private and is not open to the public.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.