Château de Rolle
Overview
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Intro
Among the many castles that were built on the shores of Lake Geneva during the Middle Ages, the castle of Rolle is one of the most mysterious, at least as far as its origin and the history of its construction are concerned.
Among the many castles that sprang up on the shores of Lake Geneva during the Middle Ages, the castle of Rolle is one of the most mysterious, at least as far as its origin and the history of its construction are concerned. Like that of Morges, it rises very close to the water and, formerly, was protected on the side of the city by ditches. Without its external fortifications, this work appears today as a quadrilateral of irregular plan, flanked at each corner by a tower.
Its western part has almost completely lost its medieval silhouette. The corner towers differ greatly from one another in form and construction. The tower on the northwest corner is circular in plan, the tower on the obtuse corner facing the lake is rectangular in plan, while the plan of the other two towers is a closed, raised semi-oval. Between these towers, the enclosure describes straight lines. In some places, the remains of a walkway are still visible.
A few long contiguous buildings lean against the inner side of the walls, where they enclose a vast courtyard. Several construction phases can be seen on these buildings. The arcades on the courtyard side have been largely walled up. The interior distribution has also undergone various alterations. In particular, the large windows on the outside of the building have recently been replaced by windows that have greatly impaired the defensive character of the castle. The loopholes in the surrounding wall and the corner towers were modified when firearms were introduced.
Without a thorough archaeological study, it is not possible to explain conclusively why the fortress of Rolle has such a strangely irregular plan, especially as regards the part facing the lake, with its obtuse-angled surrounding wall and its square tower. As for the rest of the castle, i.e. the round tower and the two semi-circular flanking towers, one tends to see the torso of a structure corresponding to the Savoyard square model, with a round keep and smaller corner towers. But how can the eastern part of the castle, which is totally different from the usual pattern, be explained? Was the original plan of the square never implemented on the lake side, or was it freely modified to include an older tower?
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.
General information
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Château de Rolle
Grand-Rue 1 1180 Rolle secretariat@chateauderolle.ch |
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Contact
Château de Rolle
Grand Rue 39
1180
Rolle
Switzerland
Phone
+41 (0)21 825 15 35
president@chateauderolle.ch
chateauderolle.ch
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