Top 9 coolest castles in the world
- By Xu Lin
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China.org.cn, October 21, 2011
Chillon Castle (Chateau de Chillon) of Switzerland (瑞士西庸城堡）
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Chillon Castle (Chateau de Chillon) of Switzerland |
With Lake Geneva on one side and the Swiss Alps on the other, the Chateau de Chillon probably looks closest to something out of a fairy tale. Built on a rocky island jutting out into the eastern shore of the lake, it was once 100 independent buildings that have since been gradually connected into what it is today: an imposing fortress standing in the water, or Switzerland's "most visited historic monument." The oldest parts of the castle may date back to 1005 or 1160, when the Counts of Savoy was said to have lived there. It then gained fame with Lord Byron's famous poem "The Prisoner of Chillon," published in 1816, and has also inspired other notable writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Victor Hugo, according to its website.
