Vufflens Castle, Vullierens Castle and L’Isle Castle
6 May 2024
Vufflens Castle near Morges (canton of Vaud) is the most impressive example of late medieval castles in western Switzerland (the French-speaking part of the country).
Unlike many other medieval castles in this region, it was not built in the Savoyard style, which was the ruling style of the Pays du Vaud at the time. The main features are the use of brick and an architectural style from Piedmont, both unique to this region.
Morges Castle, Savoyard style
The complex was built around 1415 during the reign of Henri de Colombier (1368-1437). There was already a castle on this site in the 11th or 12th century. However, he built an entirely new castle built. At the time, he was in the service of the Duke of Savoy and an army commander in Italy, where he got the inspiration for his castle.
Only the castle’s core is intact of the originally very elaborate complex. The medieval outer walls and defences have disappeared. The current castle comprises a residential Palais, a huge watchtower surrounded by four corner towers, and a walled courtyard.
The castle is unique in this region in its monumentality. It combines the pursuit of residential comfort, defence, prestige, self-presentation, and exclusivity.
From 1641 to 1860, the De Senarclens family from nearby Senarclens owned the castle. De Saussure family has owned the castle since 1860. Its most famous member is the scientist, alpinist and Mont-Blanc climber Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799).
The Dutch heraldry of De Senarclens
In 1822, Onno de Senarclens (1780-1836) was raised to the peerage in the Netherlands (Baron, Lord of Haanwijk, Boxtel and Liempde ) because of his merits in the army and perhaps in connection with the prominent role of Hendrick Jan van Oyen (1750-1821) in Waadt and Morges in particular.
The castle cannot be visited. However, the vineyards surrounding it and the villages of Vufflens-le-Château and Denens offer breathtaking views of this fairytale castle, Lake Geneva, the Alps, and, on a clear day, Mont Blanc.
Was the castle the inspiration for the castles of Vullierens and L’Isle?
Or:
“Vufflens n’est pas un château. C’est un conte de fées. C’est Chillon en plus ciselé, c’est Neuschwanstein en plus raisonnable. C’est un rêve, une carte postale. Avec la silhouette élancée de son formidable donjon, son vignoble sereinement étalé plein sud au pied du colosse de brique, il symbolise le Pays de Vaud: tradition sans rigueur malgré sa facture piémontaise, élégance débonnaire, sagesse souriante. Oui, ce château apparaît comme un phare luxueux veillant paternellement sur l’océan de vignes qui déferle sur les hauteurs morgiennes” (Source: Editions 24 heures, Les Châteaux viticoles du Pays de Vaud, 1990).
(Source and further information: www.swisscastles.ch)