The story of Béatrice de Faucigny, the Great Dauphine, and the castles of her fief in Haute-Savoie
On the trail of Béatrice de Faucigny, the Great Dauphine, in Haute-Savoie
From a freely accessible keep to a handful of forgotten ruins between the River Arve and Lake Geneva, eight castles recount the story of Béatrice de Faucigny, a 13th-century political figure who favoured negotiation over war.
Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·
Between Lake Geneva and the Arve Valley, Haute-Savoie preserves the legacy of a woman whom her contemporaries dubbed the Great Dauphine. Béatrice de Faucigny (c. 1234–1310) ruled for nearly forty years over a fief squeezed between the Counts of Geneva and the House of Savoy, preferring negotiation to war to safeguard her lands. Of this network of castles, only one is freely accessible year-round, another reopens each summer, and several survive only as names on a map. Here’s how to link them together to uncover a lesser-known chapter of Alpine history.
01
Who was the Great Dauphine?
Born around 1234–1237, Béatrice de Faucigny became Lady of Faucigny in 1263 and Dauphine of Viennois through her marriage, before taking up the regency of Viennois from 1269 to 1282. This accumulation of titles earned her the nickname the ‘Great Dauphine’. Her policy consistently favoured negotiation over war: between 1282 and 1296, she negotiated multiple treaties and agreements with Amadeus V of Savoy to delay the absorption of her lands, even becoming his vassal in 1296. Upon her death in 1310, the Faucigny owed its distinct identity to her efforts, lasting longer than that of its Genevan neighbours before its definitive integration into Savoy under the Treaty of Paris in 1355.
02
Château-Vieux d'Allinges: Savoy’s largest keep, freely accessible
The only site on this route open year-round and free of charge, Château-Vieux d'Allinges overlooks Thonon-les-Bains from an eminence contested between the Counts of Geneva and the Lords of Savoy. Restored in the 10th century by Rudolph II of Burgundy, it became in the 12th century the centre of a seneschalcy of the House of Faucigny. Its keep, the largest in Savoy (20 m by 18 m, 25 m high, with walls 4 m thick), dominates a fortified complex comprising a residence, chapel and castle borough. Unlike its rival neighbour, Château-Neuf, destroyed during the 1353 battle, Château-Vieux was gradually abandoned rather than demolished, which explains the remarkable state of its remains today, classified as a historic monument.
03
Bonneville: the town and castle bearing her mark
Bonneville owes everything to Béatrice de Faucigny. In 1262, her husband Peter of Savoy built a first wooden fort on a mound by the River Arve. Around 1290, Béatrice replaced it with the stone fortress visible today, adding two eastern towers—the Black Tower (21 m) and the White Tower (15 m)—connected by a curtain wall with a drawbridge, and gave the emerging settlement the name ‘Bona villa’, or ‘good town’, which became Bonneville. In 1304, it was in this castle that she sealed the cession of the Faucigny to her grandson. Converted into a prison in the 18th century and later purchased by the commune in 1934, the fortress, listed as a historic monument since 1987, now opens its towers, curtain wall and central courtyard to visitors during the summer season.
04
Bonne, Boringe, Charousse: the strongholds Béatrice fought over
Three other sites bear the mark of her conflicts with the Counts of Geneva. The castle of Bonne, mentioned by Béatrice herself in deeds from the 1280s–1290s, survives only as ruins after its capture by the Bernese in 1589. The castle of Boringe, or Pont-d'Arve, built by Peter of Savoy and Béatrice and cited in 1263, commanded a strategic bridge over the Arve before being besieged in 1591; it remains in private hands today. As for the castle of Charousse, perched like an ‘eagle’s nest’ on a rocky spur above Passy, hotly contested between Geneva and Savoy throughout the 13th century, it has vanished completely: its stones are said to have been used to build the nearby village of Bay.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Passy
Château de Charousse
Le château de Charousse, dit aussi de Pierre Brûlée, dominait la vallée de l'Arve en « nid d'aigle » sur un éperon de l'Aiguille de Varens, en enclave genevoise au sein du Faucigny. Attesté en 1225 et 1250, il fut disputé entre les comtes de Genève et Pierre II de Savoie au milieu du XIIIe siècle, avant de revenir définitivement à la Savoie en 1417 après plusieurs traités successifs. Ses murs épais de 2,5 m et son enceinte de 128 m témoignent d'une importante place forte, aujourd'hui disparue ; les pierres auraient servi à construire le village de Bay.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Reignier-Ésery (Reignier)
Château de Boringe (ou de Pont-d'Arve)
Le château de Boringe (ou de Pont-d'Arve), à Reignier en Haute-Savoie, commande dès 1225 un pont stratégique sur l'Arve, dans un contexte de conflits entre le comte de Genève et les sires de Faucigny. Édifié par Pierre de Savoie et Agnès de Faucigny (cité en 1263), il passe par les familles de Confignon, de Cholay, de Genève-Lullin puis Noyel de Bellegarde, érigé en comté en 1693. Assiégé et son pont détruit en 1591 par les Genevois et Bernois, le site ruiné fait l'objet de fouilles et restaurations par le docteur Bizot à partir de 1850.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Bonne
Château de Bonne
Le château de Bonne, en Haute-Savoie, domine la Menoge dans la basse vallée de l'Arve depuis une colline probablement fortifiée dès le XIIIe siècle, mentionnée par la Grande Dauphine Béatrice de Faucigny dans plusieurs actes des années 1280-1290. Rattaché à la Savoie dès 1308-1355, siège d'une châtellenie, il est pris par les Bernois en août 1589 puis démantelé au XVIIe siècle après avoir perdu son intérêt stratégique. Il n'en subsiste aujourd'hui que des ruines.
05
Arcine, Blonay, Bellegarde: what remains of the neighbouring seigneuries
Other, more discreet sites complete the map of medieval Faucigny. The castle of Arcine, in Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny, seat of a seneschalcy of the Counts of Geneva from the 13th century before passing to Savoy in 1411, remains a private property that is not open to the public. The castle of Blonay, founded in 1246 by Aymon II of Blonay with the permission of the Lord of Faucigny, held out for fourteen days during a siege in 1290 before becoming a Savoyard fief in 1306; local heritage days still evoke ‘the footsteps of the Blonays’. Finally, the towers of Bellegarde and the castle of the same name, cradle of one of the oldest noble families of the Faucigny attested as early as 1367, have been partially converted into private residences.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny (hameau de Rumilly)
Château d'Arcine (Château de Rumilly-sous-Cornillon)
Le château d'Arcine (ou de Rumilly-sous-Cornillon), au hameau de Rumilly à Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny (Haute-Savoie), est le siège d'une châtellenie des comtes de Genève dès le XIIIe siècle, en remplacement du château de Cornillon en montagne. Passé à la maison de Savoie en 1411 puis inféodé à Claude du Saix en 1430, il change plusieurs fois de mains à l'époque moderne (Muffat de Saint-Amour en 1733, Planchamp de Cluses en 1807, famille d'Ennemont en 1909). Sa grosse tour rectangulaire aux murs épais et à la face extérieure bombée, prolongée d'un long corps de logis, en constitue l'élément le plus ancien. Propriété privée, il ne se visite pas.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Magland
Tours de Bellegarde
Les tours de Bellegarde, à Magland en Haute-Savoie, sont le vestige d'une des plus anciennes maisons nobles du Faucigny, attestée dès 1367 par un don de Jacquemet de Bellegarde à l'église de Magland. Une haute tour carrée, près des gorges du Colonnaz, rappelle aujourd'hui le puissant château disparu.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Sallanches (Hameau de Saint-Joseph)
Château de Bellegarde
Le château de Bellegarde, entre Magland et Sallanches en Haute-Savoie, fut le berceau de l'importante famille noble de Bellegarde, qui détenait de multiples seigneuries dans le Faucigny et le Chablais. Attestée dès 1367 par un don à l'église de Magland, la famille s'éteint au XVIIIe siècle. Seule subsiste aujourd'hui une grande tour carrée à toit à quatre pans, aménagée en appartements.
HAUTE-SAVOIE · Saint-Paul-en-Chablais (Chef-lieu)
Château de Blonay
Le château de Blonay, au chef-lieu de Saint-Paul-en-Chablais (Haute-Savoie), est fondé en 1246 par Aymon II de Blonay, autorisé par le sire de Faucigny à y édifier un château et une ville neuve avec marché. Siège de la branche chablaisienne de la famille de Blonay, il résiste quatorze jours à un siège en 1290 avant de devenir fief savoyard en 1306. La famille de Blonay le conserve jusqu'à l'extinction de cette branche au début du XXe siècle. À ne pas confondre avec le château de Blonay du canton de Vaud, en Suisse.
06
1355: the Faucigny definitively shifts to Savoy
Béatrice’s strategy allowed her to remain mistress of her lands until her death in 1310, but her successors could not withstand Savoyard pressure. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 5 January 1355 between Dauphin Humbert II and Count Amadeus VI of Savoy, definitively integrated the Faucigny into Savoy. Bonneville then became its administrative centre. This shift sealed the fate of all the castles mentioned here: some, like Allinges or Bonneville, retained a role under Savoyard administration; others, like Charousse or Bonne, gradually lost their strategic importance and faded into obscurity.
07
How to see these castles today
Only Château-Vieux d'Allinges and the castle of Bonneville are officially open to visitors: the former freely accessible year-round, the latter during the summer season. The other sites mentioned here are either private properties closed to the public or ruins and vanished sites whose accessibility should not be overestimated—it’s best to check locally, particularly during European Heritage Days, before hoping to get close. This contrast between a heritage carefully showcased and vestiges almost erased from the landscape is perhaps the best way to measure, in very concrete terms, the scale of what time has done to the fief of the Great Dauphine.
The route on the map
Map of the route
Markers follow the suggested visiting order. Select a castle to open its page.
Sources