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Origin and history

The castle of Allinges-Neuf, or Château-Neuf, is a former castle of the Xth-XI centuries located in the commune of Allinges, in Haute-Savoie (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). Its ruins, shared with those of the Old Castle on the "butt of the castles", dominate the village of a height of 200 meters, offering a strategic view of Thonon-les-Bains and the Geneva. The site was accompanied by a village lined with walls, now almost disappeared, and accessible from the south via avenue des Châteaux or from Allinges via rue d'en Haut.

Built in the 10th century by the king of Burgundy Rodolphe II, then restored by Rodolphe III, the castle became in the 13th century the seat of a major Savoyard chestnut under Amédée VIII, before losing this role to Thonon in 1288. In the middle of the 13th century, Peter II of Savoy united the two castles of Allinges by his marriage to Agnes de Faucigny. However, the rivalry between Savoy and the dolphins of Vienna, heirs of the Faucigny, plunges the two fortresses into almost 70 years of conflict (mid-thirteenth century), marked by repeated sieges, bombings and successive repairs.

The hostilities culminated in 1325 when Dolphin Guigues VIII, allied with Hugues de Faucigny and Amédée III of Geneva, laid siege to the castle. The Savoyard resistance, led by Count Edward, allowed a decisive victory. The fighting finally ceased in 1355 with the Treaty of Paris, which linked the Faucigny to the Savoy. The castle, the centre of a castleland covering about 20 parishes, saw its administrative role decline after 1288, although it remained a military issue until the 17th century. Occupied by the Bernese (1536–67), then by the French (1600, 1630, 1690, 1703), it was finally dismantled in 1703 on the order of Duke Victor-Amédée II during the Spanish War of Succession.

In the 19th century, the ruins were acquired in 1832 by Bishop Rey, bishop of Annecy, to establish a house in the congregation of the Missionaries of Saint-François-de-Sales. The site, still owned by the missionaries, houses a castral chapel decorated with 11th century Romanesque frescoes (Christ in majesty, saints, cardinal virtues) and the remains of a 14-metre square master tower. Ranked a historic monument in 2011, the castle bears witness to medieval military architecture and its role in the feudal struggles of Chablais.

The castle consists of two parts: an ancient enclosure (Xth–Xth centuries) around a dungeon today shaved, and a more recent polygonal enclosure (late XII–early XIIIth century), attributed to the Counts of Savoy. The latter houses the ruins of a comtal house and chapel. Saint Francis de Sales stayed there in 1594–95, preaching to bring the population back to Catholicism after the Bernese Protestant occupation. The site, a symbol of regional tensions, also illustrates the evolution of Savoyard chestnuts from a military role to a judicial function after the 16th century.

The Allinges-Neuf châtellenie, which was established in 1570 as a county, comprised ten parishes (Allinges, Anthy, Armoy, etc.) and was part of the bailiwick of Chablais. Its decline began with the transfer of the seat to Thonon in 1288, motivated by the economic dynamism of the latter. The Châtelaines, officers appointed by the Counts of Savoie, collected tax revenues and maintained the castle, sometimes assisted by a receiver of accounts. After 1567, their role was limited to justice, defence being entrusted to military governors.

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