Castello Des Rives (ruderi)

The remains of Castello Des Rives occupy the morainic hill of Saint-Clair near Châtillon. A seventeenth-century chapel and fragments of perimeter wall survive above the former settlement of Bourg des Rives.

Why it matters

Unlike the better-preserved castles of Châtillon, Des Rives is represented by archaeological remains and a chapel. The castle and its hamlet were abandoned after flooding of the Dora valley; the chapel continued the hill's religious history after the settlement disappeared.

What to notice

The chapel stands among trees near a surviving stretch of perimeter wall, which marks part of the castle's former footprint. The position on the moraine overlooks the valley and the slopes around Châtillon.

Context and history

The castle and borgo stood on Saint-Clair hill above the valley road. Flooding of the Dora destroyed the settlement, which was abandoned by 1242; the manor is not mentioned in later documents. A chapel built in the seventeenth century continued the site's religious use, and processions from Saint-Vincent are recorded until the late eighteenth century.