Vésenaz Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

The fortified manor house of Vésenaz, known as Château de Vésenaz, stands in the Geneva municipality of Collonge-Bellerive. Gothic in style, it belonged to the lords of Vésenaz and was dependent on the seigneurie of Gaillard; the Geneva heritage inventory dates it to the 15th–16th centuries, whereas the Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse places it in the second half of the 15th century. Built on a square plan, it is crowned by a large hipped roof with four slopes, supported by massive buttresses, and its tall silhouette dominates the site. A round stair tower, housing a spiral staircase, flanks its north façade; lowered in 1892, it was then fitted with a cement balustrade. Remains of a small enclosure wall with turrets survive. Over the centuries, the manor house passed through the hands of several families, including the Favre and the Vaudenet of Geneva. It was listed as a historic monument by decrees of the Geneva Council of State in 1987 and 1988, and recognised as a cultural property of regional importance.