Château Allaman

Allaman Castle (French: Château d'Allaman) is a castle in the municipality of Allaman in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It has its origins in the 11/12th Century but the main components were built by Louis, Duke of Savoy - Count de Vaud, in 1253. It is listed in the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance.

The wealthy Genevan philanthropist Count Jean-Jacques de Sellon, (son of Hortense Gallatin, the sister of Albert Gallatin) who owned the property until 1839, gave accommodation at the castle to, amongst many others, such political refugees as Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte, Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, the Duke of Bassano, the Count Camille Cavour, Voltaire as well as to Franz Liszt and George Sand.

In 1820 de Sellon founded the Society of Peace, forerunner of the League of Nations and the United Nations Organization (UNO) and in 1830 the First International Peace Summit was held in Château d'Allaman. Since then, the Castle has also been referred to as The Castle of Peace. De Sellon was also instrumental in the abolition of the death penalty in Switzerland.

The Castle of Allaman is one of the largest private properties of Switzerland. The estate covers over 330,000 square metres (33 hectares; 82 acres) and offers some 6,200 m2 (67,000 ft2) of living space. The estate is surrounded by private forests, parks, gardens and Grand Cru vine yards. Recently completely restored and transformed, the Castle is owned by a Swiss family.

Text adapted from “Allaman Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château Allaman ranks #4,332 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #51 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1253, it is older than 69% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 16 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lausanne, 19 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗