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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 Gicon is a medieval fortress built between the 12th and 13th centuries, located in the commune of Chusclan. The Gicon farm, located at the base of the hill, sits at around 160 meters altitude. From there, a trail leads up to the castle, passing by the Sainte-Madeleine chapel. It can also be reached via a forest road from Vénéjan.
Archaeologists believe the castle was built on the site of a Celtic oppidum, evidenced by the northeast, north, and west walls of Celtic origin, which form a terrace base. A Roman-era paved road was also discovered.
In 1156, King Louis VII of France donated several castles and estates to the bishopric of Uzès, including Château de Gicon. This donation was confirmed in 1211 by Philip II Augustus. In 1229, following the Treaty of Meaux-Paris, which ended the Albigensian Crusade, the domain of Gicon was annexed to the Kingdom of France.
The donjon (main tower) is believed to have been constructed between 1200 and 1260. Louis IX reportedly stopped at the castle in the spring of 1270 before his final crusade. In 1312, King Philip IV (Philip the Fair) granted the lordship of Gicon to Guilhem de Saint Just, with permission to build a fortified house, as the Rhône Valley then marked a frontier.
In 1631, the donjon was destroyed by order of Louis XIII. The castle fell into further ruin after the last lords died in 1684, and it was used as a stone quarry. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, most maps — such as the Cassini map — either referred to the site simply as 'Gicon' or showed only ruins.
In 1973, local winemakers purchased the fortress to restore it. Renovation began in 1987. Since 1990, the association Les Amis de Gicon et du patrimoine de Chusclan has overseen its preservation. A visitor trail was established in 2009.
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.