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Gruyères Castle
The Castle of Gruyères (in French: ''château de Gruyères''), located in the medieval town of Gruyères, Fribourg, is one of the most famous in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History The building was built between 1270 and 1282, following the typical square plan of the fortifications in Savoy. It was the property of the Counts of Gruyères until the bankruptcy of Count Michel in 1554. His creditors, the cantons of Fribourg and Bern, divided his earldom. From 1555 to 1798, the castle was the residence of the bailiffs and then to the prefects sent by Fribourg. In 1849, the castle was sold to the Bovy and Balland families, who used the castle as their summer residency and restored it, establishing an artists' colony. The castle was repurchased by the canton of Fribourg in 1938, made into a museum, and opened to the public. Since 1993, a foundation ensures the conservation as well as the highlighting of the building and the art collection. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruyères
Gruyères (; frp, Gruviéres ; german: Greyerz) is a town in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. The medieval town is an important tourist location in the upper valley of the Saane/Sarine river, and gives its name to Gruyère cheese. The medieval town is located at the top of high hill overlooking the Saane valley and the Lake of Gruyère. Geography Gruyères has an area, , of . Of this area, or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 3.2% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duchy Of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the Frankish Empire. Upon the 9th-century partitions, the French remnants of the Burgundian kingdom were reduced to a ducal rank by King Robert II of France in 1004. Robert II's son and heir, King Henry I of France, inherited the duchy but ceded it to his younger brother Robert in 1032. Other portions had passed to the Imperial Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, including the County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté). Robert became the ancestor of the ducal House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the royal Capet dynasty, ruling over a territory that roughly conformed to the borders and territories of the modern region of Burgundy (Bourgogne). Upon the extinction of the Burgundian male line with the death of Duke Philip I in 1361, the duchy reverted to King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castles In The Canton Of Fribourg
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; from a ''pleasance'' which was a walled-in residence for nobility, but not adequately fortified; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Use of the term has varied over time and has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th-20th century homes built to resemble castles. Over the approximately 900 years when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
