Château De Gruyères

The castle of Gruyères stands at the eastern end of the ridge on which the village is built, and from the cobbled street you walk straight up to its gate. The building is a compact fortress of the thirteenth century, with a high keep, round towers and a courtyard, and it was home to the counts of Gruyère, who ruled the surrounding valley as one of the most important noble houses in western Switzerland. Their emblem, a crane, gave the village and the cheese their name, since the French word for crane is grue, and it appears on flags, signs and coats of arms across the region. The line of counts ended in 1554, when the last count, Michel, went bankrupt, and his lands were taken by his creditors, the cities of Fribourg and Bern.

After the counts, the castle served as the residence of the bailiffs who governed the district for Fribourg, and then, in the nineteenth century, it passed into the hands of a family of artists and collectors, the Bovys, who bought it in 1849. They restored it in a romantic spirit, and they invited painters to visit and to decorate rooms, so the interior is an unusual mix of medieval structure and nineteenth-century fantasy. Landscape painters of the French school, among them Camille Corot, are associated with the castle in this period, and the stay of artists in the castle is part of its story. In the twentieth century the canton of Fribourg bought the castle and turned it into a museum.

Inside, the rooms follow a path that takes in different periods. The Knights' Hall, a large room with a high ceiling, is decorated with weapons, banners and painted murals in the neo-medieval style that was fashionable in the nineteenth century, and it gives an impression of what a count's great hall might have looked like. Other rooms show furniture, tapestries and paintings, with salons decorated in a romantic style, and some rooms have stained glass windows with scenes from the history of the counts. Landscape paintings by Corot and his circle appear in the rooms that were designed for artists. There are also displays about the history of the counts and the legend of the family, and a small exhibition on the castle's building history.

Visitors can explore at their own pace, with audio guides available in several languages, or join a guided tour that adds anecdotes and background. The route is mostly on stairs, and some parts of the castle are narrow, so people with limited mobility may find parts of it difficult. Opening hours change with the season, with longer days in summer, and ticket prices are charged, with reductions for children and groups, so check the official website. The castle is reached on foot from the village, and the walk from the car park takes about ten minutes.

The visit works best combined with the village's cobbled street, the garden and the surrounding area, including the cheese dairy and the chocolate factory at Broc. The castle suits families, history readers and art lovers. Allow one to two hours, more if you linger in the garden. Visit early or late in the day to avoid tour groups.