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Legendary castleHaute-Savoie

Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard

Menthon-Saint-Bernard

Dimensions
105 rooms over four levels; rocky spur 200 m above Lake Annecy
Period
10th century (wooden guard post, around 923); present buildings 13th to 19th century

A fairy-tale castle watching over Lake Annecy, between Disney legend and the memory of a mountaineering saint.

Built on a rocky spur 200 metres above Lake Annecy, the château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard has its origins in a wooden guard post established around 923. According to family tradition, it was in this house that Bernard de Menthon was born in 1008, the future patron saint of mountaineers and founder of the hospices of the Great and Little Saint Bernard passes. The present building, remodelled between the 13th and 19th centuries, preserves three great square towers, a keep, a chapel and a library of more than 12,000 volumes dating from before 1800.

Getting there : Registered/listed as a monument historique (historic monument); open to visitors in season, still inhabited by the de Menthon family

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard
CMIvisavoy · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Haute-Savoie (11).