Chillon Castle: Interior passage showing medieval vaulting

Much of its reputation is due to literary descriptions, especially those by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (La Nouvelle H\u00E9lo\u00EFse, 1761), Percy Bysshe Shelley (History of a Six Weeks' Tour, London, 1817) and Lord Byron (The Prisoner of Chillon, 1816). Chillon Castle is first recorded in 1150, but it may have been constructed several decades earlier. The castle was progressively enlarged and its defenses reinforced by the counts of Savoy, Thomas I (reigned 1189-1233) and Peter II (reigned 1263-1268). In 1536 Chillon fell to the Bernese after a three-day siege. It was restored from 1892 by Albert Naef and others.