Tradition dates the foundation of the monastery in Verrès to the 10th century, however the canonicals of St. Egidio are mentioned for the first time in 1050. It was the location of the parish church, which includes buildings dating from the 11h and 18th centuries. The main building, in visible stone, and the adjacent, main bell-tower were built in 1512 by the Provost Charles of Challant.
The current parish church of Sant’Egidio was instead built in 1775 on the site where the previous, Romanesque church lay. Only a simple, little belfry remains today. In 1775 Count Francesco Ottavio of Challant allowed the structures of the pre-existing church to be merged with the Chapel of Saints George and Maurice, built in 1407 by the knight Ibleto of Challant as his family’s burial chapel. The structures in this chapel are still easily identified today, from outside due to the magnificent mullioned window in worked stone that stands out on the wall facing towards the village and inside due to its gothic, ribbed vaults which were saved from eighteenth-century intervention.
References:Vufflens castle was built in 1425 on the site of a previous medieval castle by Henri de Colombier. It is the most significant example of a small group of fortified Romandy castles from the middle ages, characterised above all by its brick construction. In 1530, it was set on fire by Bernese troops. In 1641 it was acquired by the de Senarclens family. The castle is currently privately owned and cannot be visited.
A pleasant 30 minute-walk through the vineyards between Vufflens-le-Château and Denens, offers a stunning view of this magnificent castle, the lake and the Mont-Blanc.