Burghalden Castle Ruin

En un regard

Le château en bref

Above Liestal, on a spur overlooking the Ergolz valley, the Burghalden ruin is the remnant of a large castle dating from a period poorly documented by written sources. Archaeological excavations date it to the late Carolingian era, around 900, and indicate occupation until about 1100. No document specifies who founded it: hypotheses range from a count of the Augstgau such as Chadaloh to a residence linked to the Rudolfing kings of Upper Burgundy. No violent destruction is attested, and the abandonment is associated with the reorganisation of the region after 1080. The complex stretches over some 150 m with a lower bailey; it is protected to the east by two ditches and a curtain wall about 2.40 m thick, flanked to the north by a tower. A small church with a single nave and a semicircular apse occupied the south-west corner of the upper bailey. The site was first explored during a road construction project in the 1960s, at the cost of some loss of material, then more thoroughly in 1978. The tower and the curtain wall have been partly consolidated, and information panels inform visitors. A short forest path leads to the ruin, free of charge and open access, with a fine view over Liestal and the Jura hills.