Château de Féternes en Haute-Savoie

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Origin and history

The Château de Féternes, also known as Châteauvieux, is a former 12th century castle located in the commune of Féternes in Haute-Savoie. It stands out from another local stronghold, Compey-Lucinge. Its ruins, perched on a rocky spur, controlled access to the Val d'Abondance and the Dranse gorges, playing a strategic role in the region.

Feternes was the heart of a petition corresponding to the present community of communes in Evian country. As early as 1203, a chestnut was mentioned, marking one of the oldest seigneuries in the German basin. The family of Feterns, attested since 1088, held the avowed abbey of Abondance. Guy de Féternes, first known member, took part in the re-foundation of this abbey in 1108, yielding the Val d'Abondance.

In the 13th century, the castle passed under the control of the Counts of Savoie, held in the fief of the bishops of Geneva. In 1203, Pierre de Compey, heir to the Fternes, became a chestnut on behalf of the Count. In 1249, Amédée IV de Savoie gave him to his brother Peter II, who left him in 1264 to his wife Agnes de Faucigny. The tower underwent work in 1271-1272, but the site was gradually abandoned.

The castle was organized in several enclosures surrounding a 9.50 × 18 metre quadrangular dungeon. Centre d'une châtellenie covering east of Chablais Savoyard, he lost his administrative role to Evian after 1265. The châtellenie accounts of Féternes and d'Evian, originally mixed, were separated in 1278, marking the final control of the Counts of Savoie over the region.

The Chatelans, appointed officers for a fixed period, managed the tax revenues and maintenance of the castle. Their role declined with the transfer of power to Evian. The castle, absent from the Sardinian Mappe, today bears witness to the feudal and medieval military organization in Savoie.

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