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.
Location
The Tourbillon Castle is located in Switzerland, in the canton of Valais, on the territory of the municipality of Sion. It is located on the Tourbillon hill and rises 182 meters (597 ft) above the city of Sion. The hill consists of biogenic and clastic sedimentary rocks based on marly phyllites and calcareous shales. The top of the hill forms a natural plateau with an average length of 200 m (660 ft) and a maximum width of 50 m (160 ft). The castle rests on the western part of the plateau, and its keep, in the center of the plateau, is located on a small rocky mound.
History
Before the castle The first known mention of the name "Tourbillon" dates back to 1268 in the form of "Turbillon". Its origin is not known, but there are two hypotheses proposed by the archaeologist François-Olivier Dubuis in 1960. The name could come from the terms "turbiculum" or "turbil," meaning "spinning top" or "small cone," or from a combination of the terms "turris," "tour," and the proper name "Billion" or "Billon," which appears in several documents from the thirteenth century. In 1994, excavations on the plateau east of the Tourbillon Castle revealed a Neolithic dwelling dated to the fifth millennium BC. Other discoveries, such as dry stone walls, prove that the castle site was used during the prehistoric period. In the nineteenth century, historians claimed that a Roman tower occupied the top of Tourbillon Hill before the construction of the castle. However, historians have never been able to prove the existence of this tower; the ruins that are supposed to be the foundations of the tower actually date back to the construction of the castle chapel in the Middle Ages. The Diocese of Sion was founded in Octodurum, now called Martigny in the early 4th century. In 589 the bishop, St. Heliodorus, transferred the see to Sion, as Octodurum was frequently endangered by the inundations of the Rhône and the Drance. Very little is known about the early Bishops and the early churches in Sion. However, in the late 10th century the last King of Upper Burgundy Rudolph III, granted the County of Valais to Bishop Hugo (998–1017). The combination of spiritual and secular power made the Prince-Bishops the most powerful nobles in the Upper Rhone valley. Sion became the political and religious center of the region. By the 12th century they began building impressive churches and castles in Sion to represent their power and administer their estates. Valère, as the residence of the cathedral chapter in Sion, was one-third of the administrative center of the powerful Diocese of Sion. In the 12th century the Cathedral Notre Dame de Sion (du Glarier) was built in the town below Valère hill. The Cathedral became the seat of the Diocese of Sion, while the Prince-Bishop of Sion lived in the castle.
Construction
The construction of Tourbillon castle is most probably linked to a major project to improve the fortifications of the town of Sion between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The beginning of the works is estimated at 1297 or 1298. They were supervised by Boniface de Challant, bishop of Sion at that time and descendant of the Viscounts of Aosta Challant family. He imitated other members of his family, who had castles built in the Aosta Valley to strengthen their power on several occasions. Several deeds signed in Tourbillon as early as May 1307 show that the habitable parts of the castle were completed when Boniface died on 13 June 1308. However, according to the dating of some of the joists, it would appear that the castle was not completely finished at that time. It was therefore Boniface's successor and cousin, Aymon de Châtillon, who completed the work.
Constant conflict
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
