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Date: 26-4-2007

Chateau de Chillon ~ my passage through time Part 3

Writen by: Paul le Roux

Chateau

Feeling somehow rejuvenated and serene I left via the staircase. Briefly checked around me to get my bearings in the old Ceremonial Courtyard of this impressive ancient structure, and decided that while time had stood still for me in the Chapel, my watch hadn't.

Black marble pillars. Apologies to artisans of today, but there's a certain craftsmanship of those days that just isn't matched anywhere now. When I look out of a window, that's all I do. Not here. Here I first admire the window itself. When last did you admire a window? And to think this tourist attraction has stood for so long. So many have visited as though to pay homage to some past life or ancestry, and also looked at these windows. And, of course, out on to the lake, which naturally always adds to the overall effect. This was the Lower Great Hall. Used in the Middle Ages for banquets and receptions, with tapestry adorning brickwork decoration of the walls, it practically assumes a character of its own. Time wasn't my friend now. With still so much for me to see, I pressed on. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, "pressed on", but really, there's a surprising amount of walking to be done in this maze!

I couldn't for the life of me imagine how a torture chamber could quite work adjacent a bedchamber. Then again, I've never been a torturer, so I naturally have other requirements for an atmosphere conducive to sleep. Prior to this 17th-century conversion, it had been a dressing room. Took the stairway down from the latrines and entered the Hall of the Scribes, with its walls decorated with chevrons, window recesses hinting of earlier paintings. This was where the Duke's attendance had stayed.

The models of the Stone Museum help you to picture the castle growing out of the 110m by 50m rock. The 9th to 13th centuries' constructions on the 2nd model show how the original defense wall ran lower from Keep to Duke's Tower. Entrance tower, outer fence on the moat side of the castle, houses for inhabitants; these well-made models serve to help one appreciate just how much work went into building Chillon into the castle it is today. Most of the construction did take place between 1240 and 1265. Models 3 and 4 show more of how things stand today. There are also various fragments of stone sculptures that can be viewed, most of which having been recovered from the moat.

Back into the 3rd courtyard and on into the 4th, the "Courtyard with the mantling wall", I tried to imagine myself a soldier in those times. Better an officer - positioning archers at loopholes and towers, which were either later partially blocked or adapted to the use of firearms. The three bastions, middle of which was turned into a prison in the 17th century, culverin in the third, all reminded me that this was certainly not built to be an attraction, but a solid defense system to effectively own the road. Of course, all mighty fortresses have one great weakness � supplies. And funnily enough, all castles fall, the battles for which are mostly a thing of pride. While trebuchets and onagers might do respectable damage, a great tactic employed was to undermine walls. The idea is to dig out a wall's foundations, propping it up as you go along as is done with commercial mining. Then set fire to the wooden supports and escape to a wait for the wall to collapse. Of course, one defense against this would be to do your own undermining, and fight off the invading miners in these newly dug corridors. Boiling oil dropped onto advancing battering rams, etc - all very messy stuff! So what's the easier way to take a castle? Cut off the very road it's defending, its supply route for food and munitions. Have no idea how the Bernese took Chillon in just two days, but I'll venture a guess that this might have had something to do with it. That's how I would've taken Chillon anyways, considering that while it's such a sturdy fortress, any army marches on its stomach.

But, alas, I'm not taking it. I'm defending it. I've got my archers all lined up, and I'm now moving along through the gatehouse, and double-checking the time on the clock of 1543, and on to the Patrol Gallery to ensure that there may be no advancing ships threatening to make my day any longer than it already is. Stunning view though! Ah, there's Villeneuve!

I'm now no longer an officer, but potentially a "side-walk pizza" as I move on and look down over the 1st and 2nd courtyards on my way through the Savoyard patrol gallery atop high 12th century walls. Checking my backpack for my carefully-packed parachute (for a base-jump off the top of The Keep) but only finding a sandwich, I made my way up to the top. Do watch your footing when you ascend. Watch it again when you descend. Also watch it when you go home, wherever you are next week Thursday, and also throughout your life in general.

I've visited Chillon twice, and I'm going back for a third in a couple of years. Enough of a recommendation? ;)

Authour: Paul le Roux is a frequent traveller. He has travelled intensively to many countries around the world like Germany, England and Switzerland. He is also the administrator of WebWobot Search Engine.

Part 1: Switzerland - Chateau de Chillon (Part 1)
Part 2: Switzerland - Chateau de Chillon (Part 2)

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