Venues & stages
Château du Châtelard
- Type
- Castle (guest rooms and concerts)
- Address
- Chemin de Planchamp-Dessous 1, 1820 Montreux
Above Clarens, the Château du Châtelard raises its cubic 15th-century keep, listed as a cultural property of national importance. A former stronghold turned residence, it has lost its military role to become a place of lodging and the centre of a wine estate producing a pinot noir, the Grand cru Château du Châtelard Lavaux AOC. It also keeps up a fine musical tradition: since 2011 the Ensemble Arabesque has been in residence there and gives its baroque concerts.
The Château du Châtelard
A 15th-century keep
A first wooden “Châtelard” goes back to the Burgundians, around the year 1000; almost nothing remains of it. The present castle, a cubic masonry keep crowned with brick, close in appearance to the château Saint-Maire in Lausanne, was built from 1440 to 1442 by Jean de Gingins, at the request of the Count of Savoy. Pillaged and partly burned in 1476 during the Burgundian Wars, it then passed through several hands, including the Bernese Bondeli family until the Vaud revolution of 1798. Around 1770 the great hall received a landscape decor attributed to the painter Gottfried Locher. The building is today listed as a cultural property of national importance.
Guest rooms and wine estate
Bought in 1983, through a small ad, by Gérard Fornerod, the castle is not open to visits, but from then on it has hosted rented apartments, receptions and weddings, and public early-music concerts on Sundays. Sold in 2015, it today belongs to a family of artists of Russian origin, who restored it to make guest rooms. It stands at the heart of a mainly wine-growing estate of about 29,000 m², producing a pinot noir, the Grand cru Château du Châtelard Lavaux AOC. Walking around it, one almost sees a knight or a monk appear: the feeling of being in the Middle Ages is very strong there, kept alive by the portraits of lords, the panoplies and the coats of arms in the rooms.
A haven of early music
Since 2011 the castle has welcomed the Ensemble Arabesque, in residence in its 18th-century hall. Gathered around the harpsichordist Claire Anne Piguet, the musicians give baroque concerts on historical instruments there, often on Sunday afternoons, in an intimate atmosphere, extended by a meeting with the audience over a glass from the estate. The ensemble also performs elsewhere on the Riviera, notably at the Château de Chillon.