The Tourbillon castle (Château de Tourbillon) is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Sion

Sion, Switzerland

Sion is the capital of the Swiss canton of Valais. it had a population of .Landmarks include the Basilique de Valère and Château de Tourbillon. Sion has an airfield for civilian and military use, which, because of its location in a valley, causes a reasonable amount of noise pollution. FC Sion...

 in the canton

Cantons of Switzerland

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Valais

Valais

The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...

 in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. It is situated on a hill and faces the Basilique de Valère

Basilique de Valère

The Valère basilica , also called Valère castle , is a fortified church situated in Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated on a hill and faces the Château de Tourbillon, located on the opposite hill....

, located on the opposite hill. The castle is currently in a state of ruins following a fire in 1788.

History

Tourbillon castle was built in at the end of the 13th century, sometime between 1290 and 1308, by the bishop Boniface de Challant. A large part of the castle was first destroyed by the Patriots of the Valais in 1416. The castle was then rebuilt in 1477 by Gullaume VI of Raron, wanting to build a chapel and an exterior wall built with battlements. However, in 1788, a gigantic fire reduced the castle to ashes; this became its ruin.