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Origin and history

The château de Gruffy, located in the department of Haute-Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, was an ancient Comtal castle whose first records date back to the end of the 13th century. It originally belonged to the house of Geneva, as evidenced by the acts of 1278 to 1280, where Bishop Robert of Geneva was called Lord of Gruffy. The castle was strategically placed in Albanian, above the town of Alby, and controlled part of the Bauges massif, then under the influence of Savoy County.

In the 14th century, the castle changed hands several times within the local aristocracy. In 1316, Guillaume III of Geneva paid tribute to the Dauphin of Vienna for Gruffy. In 1326, Count Amédée de Genève inferred the castle to Jean Métral. Later, in 1367, Mathilde d'Auvergne, widow of Amédée III of Geneva, became its chestnut. The castle entered definitively into the domain of the house of Savoy in 1401, after the acquisition of the county of Geneva, then was bought in 1417 by Duke Amédée VIII.

The seigneury of Gruffy, including lands such as the Semnoz and neighboring parishes, was managed by a chestnut named by the Count. The châtellenie accounts, kept at the Archives départementales de la Savoie, cover the period from 1400 to 1499. The castle, the seat of a small comtal chestnut, then passes into the hands of noble families such as Compey (XVth–XVIth centuries), the Mareschal (from 1522), then the Menthon, who raise the fief in barony in the 17th century. In 1792, despite the French revolutionary invasion, the Baron of Gruffy remained the owner.

From the old fortress, there is today only a quadrangular tower transformed into a dwelling, a circular tower and portions of ramparts. According to a description from 1824, the castle once had four crenellated towers, including a very high dungeon, and was protected by a ditch in the east. A large part of its stones were re-used in local constructions, notably in Alby-sur-Chéran.

The château of Gruffy illustrates the struggles of influence between the Counts of Geneva and Savoy, as well as the evolution of the local seigneuries from the Middle Ages to the modern era. Its history is documented by departmental archives and studies such as those of Canon Coutin (1937), which describe its administrative and economic role in the region.

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