Château de Rives

The Priory of Montjoux, locally known as Rives Castle or Montjoux Castle, is a former 14th-century religious establishment located at Rives-sous-Thonon in Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France. Due to a long-standing historical misunderstanding, it was considered a fortified house or castle from the 1880s until the mid-2020s.

The building stands on the shore of Lake Geneva and was constructed in the Middle Ages at the centre of the borough of Rives, founded around 1280 by Count Philip I of Savoy.

For many years, the priory of Augustinian canons was confused with a neighbouring fortified house built in the early 14th century by the Greysier family. This error originated in the 1880s and was repeated by later authors. It is now known that the priory and the fortified house were two separate but contemporary buildings. The priory, first mentioned in 1386, was formed from several houses acquired by the canons from 1321 onwards. The fortified house disappeared from records after 1487 and survives only in the form of the Tour des Langues.

The canons remained at Rives until the mid-18th century. In 1752 the priory was transferred to the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, sold in 1791, nationalised during the French Revolution, and used for industrial purposes in the 19th century. It became a private residence again in 1920.

Address
Quai de Rives 3bis, Thonon-les-Bains, France

Established
c. 1280