page_title: Glérolles Castle
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Glérolles Castle / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1784 engraving of Glérolles Castle
context_page_description: Glérolles Castle is situated in the municipality of Saint-Saphorin, canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva. Its earliest elements date from a fortress built around 1150. The modern building serves as the headquarters for a vineyard of the same name, and as a venue which can be hired to host social events. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of Regional Significance.
context_section_description: Few elements of the mediaeval fortress survive. A 1784 engraving by Jean-Benjamin de La Borde shows a building with a tall quadrangular central tower capped by a pyramidal roof. There is a legend that the tower was demolished in the 19th century because it was casting shade over the vineyard. Although that story does lend support to the idea of a long-standing close connection between castle and vineyard, it is untrue. The tower was halved in height because vibration from the newly built Simplon railway threatened to bring the whole structure down.
  As of 2018, the castle comprises 30 rooms, including a meeting hall called La Salle des Chevaliers, and a garden facing onto Lake Geneva which includes a private dock. It is a Swiss Cultural Property of Regional Significance (List B, no. 6491).
caption: Vue de Chateau de Glérolle, 1784
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