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Origin and history

Montanier Castle, also called Montagnier or Montagny, is an ancient castle probably built in the 13th century, although its first written mention only dates back to the early 14th century. Its ruins stand on a steep rock 200 meters above the village of Samoëns, in Haute-Savoie, strategically controlling the high valley of the Giffre and access to alpine passes such as Joux Plane or Golese. Its name, in various forms (Montanerii, Tornaltaz), evokes its mountainous position, and it was sometimes confused with the "Tournellette", another local name linked to a tradition of medieval hunting.

Between 1305 and 1309, the castle became the centre of a castle, detached from Châtillon, and was first mentioned in 1309 as a mortgage to finance the dowry of a marriage between the houses of Savoy and Dauphiné. In 1339 he was transferred to Hugues de Genève in exchange for his support during the Delphino-Savoyard wars, before returning definitively to Savoie's house in 1355. The châtellenie accounts, preserved at the Savoie Archives, reveal a modest but organized fortification: house bodies, prisons, walled rooms, and a tower of 3x4 meters. Its main entrance to the east was protected by an archery to the west.

The castle was probably destroyed in 1476 during the fire of Samoëns by the Valaisans, in the context of the Burgundy wars between Savoyards and Swiss Confederates. Unrestored later, it fell into ruins and its territory, including Morillon and Vallon, remained a seigneury until its purchase in 1699 by the Salteur de la Serraz family. In the 17th century, his weapons were blazing with "three paux de gules sur gold with a pine". Since 1906, its remains, partially transformed into shelters, have been integrated into the Alpine Botanical Garden La Jaÿsinia, founded by the Cognacq-Jay Foundation.

The excavations and archives allow to reconstitute its organization: a circular enclosure of 75 meters of circumference, adapted to the natural motte, and interior arrangements reflecting its administrative and defensive role. Although Albanis Beaumont (1802) evokes a burgundy origin in the 10th century, no archaeological evidence confirms this hypothesis. The first reliable records place its construction between the 13th and 14th centuries, in a context of feudal rivalries between Savoie, Dauphiné and Geneva.

The site, formerly called "the Castle", illustrates the evolution of medieval fortifications in Faucigny, a region organized around nine chestnuts in the 12th century, then fifteen under the Delphinal period. Samoëns, 7th in the order of precedence, played a key role in managing alpine valleys and strategic passes. Today, the ruins, though discreet, offer a tangible testimony of this past, preserved within a botanical space dedicated to alpine flora.

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