Tourbillon Castle

Tourbillon Castle (French: Château de Tourbillon) is a castle in Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated on a hill and faces the Basilique de Valère, located on the opposite hill.

It was built at the end of the 13th century under the direction of Bishop Boniface de Challant. Of a defensive nature and perched on the top of a steep, rocky hill, it served as the residence of the bishops of Sion. The Tourbillon Castle was badly damaged by the conflicts between the bishops and the people of Valais. It was burnt down in 1417 during the Raron affair, a war between the people of Sion and the Raron family. It was rebuilt by Bishop William III of Raron some thirty years later. In 1788 it was completely destroyed by another fire. The stones of the castle were used for some time for construction in the region before the ruins were reinforced in the 19th century to make it a historical monument. The castle is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The castle is protected by nature; very steep terrain surrounds the structure. Accessible only from the east or west, it consists of a courtyard protected by surrounding walls. The castle has a keep, its own chapel and a garrison building.

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

Tourbillon Castle ranks #1,914 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #14 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1290, it is older than 66% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,703 times in the last 60 days, more than 73% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lausanne, 65 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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