Chenal Castle

Chenal Castle is a small ruin perched on a spur of green rock, near the hamlet of the same name, at Montjovet. It makes no attempt to impress. It was a lookout post, serving the large neighbouring castle of Saint-Germain. You come across it at a bend in a path, amid the vegetation.

The lords of Chenal, then the Challants

The castle was built around the middle of the 13th century by the lords of Chenal. It passed to the Challant family through a marriage: Ebal I of Challant married Alexia, the only daughter of the last lord of Chenal. In 1438, François de Challant sold it to the Duke of Savoy, together with Saint-Germain. The castle was partly dismantled around 1540, then abandoned.

Two kinds of stone, two uses

The plan is almost square. In the centre, a square tower about six metres on each side was used to keep watch over the valley. What makes Chenal unusual is its building materials. The walls are made of serpentine, the green rock of the crag, which crumbles easily. For the corners and the door arches, which take more strain, the builders used granite, which is much stronger. Inside the walls, the remains of small buildings can be seen.

Much older carvings

The rock on which the castle stands also bears prehistoric rock carvings. So people came to the spot long before the Middle Ages.

How to see it

Château de Chenal
Hameau Chenal
11020 Montjovet (AO)
Municipality of Montjovet: +39 0166 79 131 · protocollo@comune.montjovet.ao.it

The ruins are freely accessible. From the hamlet of Chenal, a short path leads there in about ten minutes. You can also start from Champérioux: about 30 minutes on foot, with 130 metres of ascent. The castle lies on the route of the Via Francigena and the Cammino Balteo.

Main photo: Patafisik e Elena Tartaglione, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Maps: personal work by Marc Badjou.