Langin Tower

Les Granges

@Guilhem Vellut_wikipedia

Description

Fifteen kilometers from Thonon les Bains, the Langin tower, built on the hill of the same name at an altitude of 700 meters, dominates the entire shores of Lake Geneva. It stands guard as an advanced lookout post on the northern flank of the wooded Voirons mountain range. It
is the last vestige of a powerful castle that controlled access to the Chablais via the depression between the Voirons and Mont de Boisy.

18 metres high, built of 2.10-metre thick walls and 6.90 metres wide inside, the Langin tower is round... and that's far from being a mere architectural detail. It is one of the earliest examples of a circular keep built in Savoy, and one of 34 military works, keeps and castles, built between 1258
and 1268 by Pierre II, 12th Count of Savoy. With his passion for architecture, he abandoned the classic square, ashlar Carolingian keep, perched on a sheer rock face and surrounded by one or more perimeter walls following the contours of the land. Instead, he adopted the layout of the castles he had seen while fighting in Normandy, Northern France and Aquitaine.
France and Aquitaine: one or more circular towers with very thick walls, topped by a conical roof and accessed by a drawbridge, like the one at the Louvre.

This tower, vaulted at the top, is all that remains of the Château de Langin, destroyed in 1591 by order of the Conseil du Genevois, during the conflicts between Geneva and Savoy. It remained in the hands of the d'Allinges family until 1840. Purchased in 1963 by Dr. Jacques Miguet of Douvaine, it was then reduced to a ruin, gutted on the south side, which the new owner gradually restored.

Tarifs

Prices not available. Private property, access forbidden.

Private property, access forbidden

Contact et accès

Chemin de la Tour
Les Granges
74890 Bons-en-Chablais
Haute-Savoie (74)

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Informations complémentaires

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