Rolle Castle

17 May 2022

The House of Savoy founded the castle on Lake Geneva in the third quarter of the 13th century. Dendrochronological research confirms the construction of the first castle between 1264 and 1269.

The Rolle fortress is first mentioned in documents dating from 1291 when it was owned by Count Amédée V of Savoy. The building, made of tuff, a local limestone, is one of the largest of its kind (the carré savoyarde).

The castle was used to store goods and for defence. There was even an inner harbour accessible from the lake. Around 1330, the Counts of Savoy founded the town of Rolle to the west of the castle.

In 1295, the fief passed to knight Jean de Greilly, whose descendants lived in the castle until the 15th century.  After 1400 the Lords of Greilly also inherited the extensive lands in Guyenne.

In 1531 the castle and its possessions passed to Jean Amédée de Beaufort, and in 1536 Bern took over ownership after the conquest of Vaud (le Pay de Vaud). Jean Amédéus of Savoy, a member of the Ligue de la Cuiller (see Swiss Spectator, 5 April 2021, La Ligue des chevaliers de la Cuiller, League of the Knights of the Spoon), did not acknowledge his defeat until 1543.

The castle of Rolle was bought in 1558 by a wealthy Bernese patrician, Jean de Steiger. The family retained the castle and its seigniorial rights for almost two centuries. The castle was bought by the municipality of Rolle on 29 March 1799, after the French ‘liberation’ of Vaud.

Today, the monument houses an exhibition space and a historical library with over 13,000 books.

(Source and further information: www.chateauderolle.ch).