Château d'Yvoire, Yvoire, France

Built from 1306 during the village fortification by the Comte de Savoie Amédée V, Yvoire castle had a military goal to watch the navigation and control the road which linked Geneva to the high valley of the Rhône and to Italy.

For several centuries, the village of Yvoire was in the center of several strategic or religious wars between France, Bern, Geneva as well as the houses of Faucigny, Dauphiné and Savoie.

In 1591, a fire devastated the building which only found its shape back in the 20th century, when Félix Bouvier of Yvoire undertook several internal and external renovation works, like the roof and the watch towers setting in 1939.

References:

yvoire-france.com

User Reviews

Shawn Zents (2 years ago)
What an amazing, very walkable town. Very friendly locals, beautiful shops, and food is incredible. I miss it already!

Melissa Warren-Garcia (2 years ago)
Very charming, even in winter. A lot of shops and restaurants were closed due to it being low season, but we had a nice stroll along the lake side and port.

Iván Serrano (3 years ago)
Very beautiful but the entrance is not allowed.

Alfie Fort (3 years ago)
Wonderful medieval place for an afternoon out by the lake.

Paula Elliott (4 years ago)
Beautiful picturesque village for strolling, eating, shopping and tail wagging. (Very dog friendly! )

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Inna_Zyu

Historic Site of the week

Kalozha Church

The Kalozha church of Saints Boris and Gleb is the oldest extant structure in Hrodna. It is the only surviving monument of ancient Black Ruthenian architecture, distinguished from other Orthodox churches by prolific use of polychrome faceted stones of blue, green or red tint which could be arranged to form crosses or other figures on the wall.

The church is a cross-domed building supported by six circular pillars. The outside is articulated with projecting pilasters, which have rounded corners, as does the building itself. The ante-nave contains the choir loft, accessed by a narrow gradatory in the western wall. Two other stairs were discovered in the walls of the side apses; their purpose is not clear. The floor is lined with ceramic tiles forming decorative patterns. The interior was lined with innumerable built-in pitchers, which usually serve in Eastern Orthodox churches as resonators but in this case were scored to produce decorative effects. For this reason, the central nave has never been painted.

The church was built before 1183 and survived intact, depicted in the 1840s by Michał Kulesza, until 1853, when the south wall collapsed, due to its perilous location on the high bank of the Neman. During restoration works, some fragments of 12th-century frescoes were discovered in the apses. Remains of four other churches in the same style, decorated with pitchers and coloured stones instead of frescoes, were discovered in Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk. They all date back to the turn of the 13th century, as do remains of the first stone palace in the Old Hrodna Castle.

In 2004, the church was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO"s World Heritage Sites.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Château d'Yvoire

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

History of Guernsey & Jersey

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania

Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal

Historic Site of the week

Kalozha Church

Looks like you are a history fan!