By Tamer Aboalenin (with photos) GENEVA, Dec 20 (KUNA) -- It was the sunset as the ship passed off the Swiss Riviera in the Lake of Geneva to see the last rays of the sunset colours dropped on the walls of a castle stand tall off the coast of Monteraux.
It is the Citadel of Chillon that firstly known through the French author Jean-Jacques Rousseau but gained widespread fame after the English poet Lord Byron wrote a special poem about it.
The heritage the medieval ages have left us thousands of castles and citadels, however few of them is stated by name in different works and Chillon is the only Swiss castle that mentioned in the world literature.
Historians say that the castle exists since the 12th century as witness of important historical shifts. It was not just the residence of the French bourgeoisie family Savoy, but it was a symbol of political and economical importance of the lake of Geneva in the history of connection between north and south Europe and the conflict between the Swiss cantons.
Flags and emblems of families, which seized at the castle adorn its walls and could be seen clearly from the sea side or the land.
From your first step to enter the Castle you will sense the feeling that the history takes you centuries back to find yourself surrounded by the manifestations of life in the Middle Ages.
The administration of the castle is keen to remember the history from time to time. Few times per year they turn the Castle from just a silent museum on a pattern of everyday life of the Middle Ages where a complete team simulates an integrated life. You feel like you wander between the pages of history.
The guards on the door welcome you before you go between the pathways surrounded by the smell of burning wood for heating. Inside the castle market place, you have a wide spectrum of the daily life, a hunter displays fur animals for sale and tells you his adventures and cunning during catching the animals, a creative cobbler shows you his talents in shoe repair and what he could offer for every one.
In Castle Square you see also overcome the monotony of daily life as a folkloric band begins to play music some visitors begin to dance others to talk or enjoy cups of some warm drinks.
Quite near there are some Women try to sell porridge and promote their food next to a second hand worker tempt young people to buy swords, and then you hear the sound of a doctor explains what he had discovered for the treatment of incurable diseases.
The visitor feel that the wheels of time returned back to a world, where people live without stress, as the the end of the day comes closer the people look from time to time to the sky waiting for the sunset to prepare for departure, while the guards starting a new round to be sure that calm returns to the castle.
However, the dark side of the castle came into public view as the British poet Lord Byron described it in his famous poem (Prisoner of Chillon 1816) after his visit to the castle to remember the freedom fighter Francois de Bonivard in the 16th century. "There are seven pillars of Gothic mould, In Chillon's dungeons deep and old, There are seven columns, massy and grey, Dim with a dull imprison'd ray, A sunbeam which hath lost its way, And through the crevice and the cleft. Of the thick wall is fallen and left; Creeping o'er the floor so damp, Like a marsh's meteor lamp." You will get the same feelings and impressions when you enter the prison through it s narrow gate.
As first you see names engraved on the columns built in Gothic style, including the signing of Lord Byron among hundreds of names, may be of prisoners or visitors.
The poem opened the door of questions about the castle. Historians in the 19th century started research and exploration in the secrets of Chillon.
It back to the Bronze Age built on a rocky outcrop, but appears firstly in history books as of the 12th century with the control of the Savoy from 12th century to 1536, the route along the shores of Lake Geneva.
The Swiss, more precisely the Bernese, conquered the "Pays de Vaud" and occupied Chillon in 1536. The castle become Swiss and retained its role as a fortress, arsenal and prison for over 260 years.
The Bernese left Chillon in 1798 at the time of the Vaudois Revolution. The castle became the property of the Canton of Vaud when it was founded in 1803 as a part of the Swiss Confederation. The restoration of the historical monument began at the end of the 19th Century and continues to this day.
The Romantic Movement rediscovered the Middle Ages with considerable enthusiasm, and a new image of Chillon began to become popular.
Both the castle and the landscape, against which it towers, are imbued with the characteristics beloved of Romantic aesthetics: a picturesque silhouette, ancient walls which bear witness to a sombre past and a sublime framing element in the shape of the mountains. Writers, painters and visitors were equally enthralled by this.
When you visit the Castle and be for a while in its prison you will remember what lord Byron wrote: "The dark vault lies wherein we lay, .. We heard it ripple night and day; .. Sounding o'er our heads it knock'd; .. And I have felt the winter's spray .. Wash through the bars when winds were high .. And wanton in the happy sky; .. And then the very rock hath rock'd, .. And I have felt it shake, unshock'd, .. Because I could have smiled to see .. The death that would have set me free." But with a difference you can go home safely and you will like to visit Chillon again to discover more of its secrets and Myths. (end) ta.bs KUNA 202106 Dec 10NNNN