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Origin and history

Verdun-Dessus Castle, also known as Verdon Castle, is a 13th century castle, later modernized. Located on the town of Cruet (Savoie), it overlooks the hamlet of the Baraterie and was the heart of the seigneury of Verdun. Together with the surrounding fortified houses (the Rive, the Chaffard, the Chanay), it formed a strategic defensive ensemble, linked to the family of Verdon, vassal of the Miolans sires. Its construction or redevelopment could follow the capture of the village of Châtelard by Hugues-Dauphin.

In the 17th century, the castle changed hands several times. In 1607, it belonged to Isabeau de Mouxy and was sold in 1617 to Maurice Paernat de Saint-Pierre-d-Albigny. In 1645, Claude Savarin, adviser to the Duke of Savoy, acquired the rights, while the Paernat family retained other local strongholds. In 1657, Count Centorio Gagnoli, governor of the castles of Montmélian and Miolans, became his lord, alongside the tower of the Chaffard.

In the 18th century, the Marquis Charles-Emmanuel Cagnol de La Chambre inherited the castle (1730), before Clotilde de La Chambre brought him in dowry in 1869 to the Fernex family of Montgex. The present architecture, in the shape of L with a round tower topped in pepper, dates partially from this period. The 17th-century gate carries the weapons of the Cagnol, and a room preserves a frieze painted in grey under a French ceiling.

A carved stone, a piece of fireplace, bears the coat of arms of the Verdun family, recalling its medieval origins. The site illustrates the evolution of Savoyard fortresses, going from feudal stronghold to seigneurial residence, while keeping traces of its successive architectural transformations.

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