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Castle of Novel à Annecy en Haute-Savoie

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Maison forte
Haute-Savoie

Castle of Novel

    37 Rue du Périmètre
    74000 Annecy
Private property
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Château de Novel
Crédit photo : Titaurel - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1174
Agreement signed at the mansion
1195
Death of William I
1219
Abandonment by Counts
1512
Acquisition by Sales
XIVe–XVe siècles
Period of infeodation
1612
Condition of the drawbridge
1803
Agricultural construction
1972
Repurchase by Annecy
31 octobre 1975
Partial classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Facades and roofs (Case AT 6, 47, 48): inscription by order of 31 October 1975

Key figures

Amédée Ier de Genève - Count of Geneva Signs an agreement in 1174.
Guillaume Ier de Genève - Count of Geneva Died at Novel in 1195.
Saint Anthelme de Chignin - Bishop of Belley Arbitrator of the 1174 Agreement.
Saint François de Sales - Lord of Novel (father) Family owner in the sixteenth.
Michel Viollon de Novel - Syndic d'Annecy Father of donor visitandines.

Origin and history

Novel Castle, also known as Novel Manor House, is a strong house built in the 12th century on the present town of Annecy (Haute-Savoie). Originally, the site reportedly housed a Gallo-Roman villa, as suggested by its toponym Novel, meaning "newly cleared land". Owned by the Counts of Geneva, it served as an occasional residence before their final installation at the Château d'Annecy in 1219. Count Amédée I signed an agreement there in 1174 under the arbitration of Saint Anthelme de Chignin, and William I of Geneva died there in 1195.

In the 14th century, the seigneury was infused with a family named Novel, before passing into the hands of the Renguis, then Chenex in the 15th century. In 1512, the estate was married to the Sales family, whose father of Saint Francis de Sales was named Lord of Novel. In the 16th century, the mansion belonged to Amédée Viellon, then to his heirs, whose daughters entered the Visitation in the 17th century, giving the property to the visitandines. The latter made it a farm until the Revolution, when it was confiscated as national property.

Architecturally, the 15th-century quadrangular mansion retains a round tower and remains of an enclosure with ditch and drawbridge, mentioned as "totally gassed" in 1612. In the 19th century, a building body connects the tower to the dovecote, while a large agricultural building was erected in 1803 in the courtyard. Partially classified as historical monuments in 1975 (falls and roofs), the castle was bought by the town of Annecy in 1972 after serving as a farm until the 1960s.

The written sources evoke a dovecote in poor condition as early as the 17th century ("rambocher and ironer"), as well as an oak drawbridge supported by dots. The site, initially strategic at the foot of the hill of Annecy-le-Vieux, loses its defensive vocation to become an agricultural economic heart, before its contemporary restoration.

External links