En un regard
Le château en bref
The château (or manor house) of Novel, in Annecy, is a fortified house founded in the 12th century, probably on the site of an earlier Gallo-Roman villa (the name "Novel" meaning recently cleared land). The counts of Geneva lived there before moving to the Château d'Annecy in 1219; the father of Saint Francis de Sales held the title of lord of Novel after the estate passed to the House of Sales in 1512. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Visitandines turned it into an agricultural centre, before it was confiscated as national property during the Revolution. The present quadrangular building, largely dating from the 15th century, with a round tower at the south-west corner, was originally surrounded by an enclosure wall, a moat and a drawbridge; a dovecote was added in the 19th century. The façades and roof have been listed as monuments historiques by order of 31 October 1975. Bought back by the town of Annecy in 1972, it has since been restored by the municipality.