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Origin and history

The château de Choisy, also known as château de la Balme, is a former fortified house built in the 16th century in the commune of Choisy in Haute-Savoie. It was erected in 1559 by Catherin Pobel, notary and president of the Presidual Council of Geneva, after his acquisition of the fief in 1557. This castle, originally the seat of a seigneury and then a county, illustrates the military and residential architecture of the Savoyard Renaissance.

The monument passed into the hands of several noble families, including the Reydet, who acquired it by marriage in 1560. The daughter of Catherin Pobel, Louise, married Louis de Reydet, anobli and seigneur de la Vulpillière. The younger branch of the Reydet de Choisy died in the 17th century, and the castle was transferred to the Conzié by alliance in 1681. The latter kept it until the French Revolution, when it was transformed into a farm.

Architecturally, Choisy Castle presents itself as a quadrangular building completed by a chapel. Its entrance, Renaissance style, is surmounted by a triangular pediment decorated with the Reydet and Pobel weapons. Inside, a Renaissance fireplace, listed as historical monuments since 1982, as well as a staircase and decorated doors dated 1559, testify to its rich past. The tower, home to a dovecote, and adjacent buildings, including an oven, complete this historic complex.

The castle has been partially protected since 8 March 1982, with only its Renaissance fireplace included in the inventory of historical monuments. Today, there remains a remarkable example of the architectural and seigneurial heritage of Haute-Savoie, marked by the social and political transformations of the region, from the Renaissance to the Revolution.

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