Vufflens Castle

Vufflens Castle (French: Château de Vufflens) is a medieval castle in the Swiss municipality of Vufflens-le-Château in the canton of Vaud. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The castle was built between 1420 and 1430 by Henri de Colombier, an advisor to Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, on the site of a previous medieval castle mentioned as early as 1108. In 1530, it was set on fire by Bernese troops. After the death of Philibert de Colombier in 1544, it passed through various owners, and in 1641 it was acquired by the de Senarclens family. The castle is privately owned.

From the previous castle of the lords of Vufflens, nothing remains. Of the original castle by Henri Colombier, the donjon, several towers, outbuildings, the surrounding wall and the gate house remain.

Referenced in "The Four Towers of Vufflens"; a Swiss myth. In the myth the lord of the castle (Grimoald) punished his wife for giving birth to a daughter (when he wanted a son to inherit) by telling his wife he would kill the daughter. Rather than killing her he built a new tower on one corner of the castle & sent the daughter & a nurse to live in it. This occurred 3 more times; until, upon the birth of his 4th daughter he sent his wife and new daughter to live imprisoned in the fourth and final tower.

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

Vufflens Castle ranks #2,542 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #24 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1395, it is older than 54% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,271 times in the last 60 days, more than 55% of the atlas. 15 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lausanne, 12 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗