En un regard
Le château en bref
Perched on a rocky spur overlooking the Rhône plain, the ruins of Saillon Castle bear witness to the strategic importance of the site for the House of Savoy in the Valais. Thomas of Savoy acquired most of Saillon in 1221; his son Peter II had the old stronghold replaced by a vast fortress built between 1259 and 1262. The Bayart Tower, a keep about 19 m high, was raised around 1259–1261 by master masons from Gascony. The enclosure, roughly circular in plan, follows the crest of the ridge, reinforced on the western side by semicircular towers, and has four gates. Damaged during the peasants' revolt of 1384, the castle was destroyed in 1475 during the Burgundian Wars; Saillon then remained the seat of a castellany until 1798.