Tour de Sauterens en Haute-Savoie

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The tower of Sauterens, built in the 14th century, is a medieval vestige located in Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny, Haute-Savoie. This 18-metre-long, 11-metre-wide quadrangular dungeon, 20-25-metre-high, was part of a defensive network including the Vozérier Tower and the Moëllesulaz Fortified Mill. Its thick foundations, built with polished pebbles typical of the confluence of the Arve and Borne, suggest an older origin, perhaps from the 11th or 12th centuries.

The toponym Sauterens would come from the patronymic Saltarinus, a medieval derivative of saltuarius (garde-champêtre or communal magistrate in charge of forests). As early as 1306 Amédée, Count of Geneva, confirmed the existence of the tower by assigning it to his son Guillaume. In the 15th century, the seigneury passed into the hands of the Menthon family, as evidenced by the acts of 1415 and 1451. In 1522, a marriage contract attested that François de Menthon, seigneur of Sauterens, married Louise de Roverea.

The tower appeared on the Mappe Sarde of 1730 and was described in 1748 as the oldest building of the commune by the parish priest Delisle. In the 18th century, the seigneury belonged to the family of Viry, which split it and sold it in plots from the 19th century. In 1923, Joseph-Marie Bouvard, a farmer and trader, acquired the tower, which had remained from private property not open to the public. His descendants, including the veterinarian André Bouvard, undertook restorations in the 20th century.

Architecturally, the tower combines Romanesque elements (a vaulted room in a cradle) and medieval defensive features. A large room below, equipped with round stones, supports the upper floors. Although discreet, this construction illustrates the feudal history of Faucigny, between Genevan and Savoyard influences, and its role in the management of local lands and forests.

Historical sources also mention links with noble families such as the Treper (or Trappier), who came from the Valais in the 11th century to clear the land, and the Menthon, who held the seigneury until the 16th century. The tower, which is now part of a farm, retains its status as a private monument, a silent witness to the seigneurial and military dynamics of the region.

External links