Boringe Castle en Haute-Savoie

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Boringe Castle, also called Boringes Bridge or Pont-sur-Arve, is a castle built at the beginning of the 13th century, then remodeled in its second half. Located on the left bank of the Arve, on a rock overlooking the hamlet of Boringe (present commune of Reignier-Ésery), it controlled a vital bridge linking the parishes of Saint-Romain and Nangy. This bridge, taken by the road between Nangy and La Roche via the châtelet du Crédoz, also made it possible to connect Geneva to Bonneville, upstream. The castle was initially a seigneury shared between the Counts of Geneva and the Barons of Faucigny, before passing under exclusive control of the latter. Its ruins, now on private land, remain partially visible despite dense vegetation.

The first written mention of the castle, then named Pont-sur-Arve, dates from 1263: an act attests that Count Pierre de Savoie, the husband of Agnes de Faucigny, had built and fortified among other buildings of the Faucigny. In 1296, Baroness Béatrice de Faucigny infeode to the knight Guillaume de Confignon, who made repairs there before returning to the Grande Dauphine in 1299. The fief then changed hands several times, notably to Humbert de Cholay (1319), then to a half-brother of Nicod de Ferney (1345). In the 15th century, it became an apanage of the younger branch of Geneva-Lullin, descendants of Guillemette de Ferney and Thomas de Genève-Lullin.

During the wars between France and Savoy, the castle was attacked on 1 January 1591 by the French reformed troops of the Baron de Sancy. Despite a fierce defence led by the Marquis de Lullin with only 40 men, the fortress capitulates after 72 gunshots. Dismantled by the French, it lost its strategic role in 1594 when the bridge collapsed. Purchased in the 19th century by Dr Bizot, the site is the subject of archaeological excavations and is immortalized by an engraving by Henry-John Terry in L-Album de la Haute-Savoie.

The 1339 Delphinal Survey describes a building on a defensive rocky mollard, composed of a rectangular dungeon (7x8 metres, prior to 1263), two square towers of 14 toises, and related buildings (stable, bedrooms, room with stoves). The dungeon, accessible by a drawbridge, dominated the Arve and faced the castle of Peter on the opposite bank. Centre d'une châtellenie du Faucigny from 1265, the fief passed to Geneva-Lullin in 1429, then to various noble families (Villiers, Bellegarde, Conzié) until its definitive abandonment in the 17th century.

Today, the ruins — private property within the Reignier economic activity area — bear witness to its medieval strategic importance. The site, although covered by vegetation, retains a recognizable plan. Its history reflects the struggles of influence between the houses of Savoie, Geneva and Faucigny, as well as the military stakes linked to the control of the axes between Geneva and Chablais.

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