Geneva & the West - Discover Switzerland: Experience the Best of Switzerland - page 171

waterfront. From 1979 until his premature death in 1991, the lead vocalist came to
Montreux with rock band Queen to record hit after hit at the Mountain Studios in
Montreux Casino.
RICHARD TAYLOR / 4CORNERS ©
Don't Miss
Château de Chillon
From the waterfront in Montreux, the fairytale Chemin Fleuri (Flower Path) - a silky smooth promenade framed
by flowerbeds positively tropical in colour and vivacity - snakes dreamily along the lake for 4km to the magnificent
stone hulk of the Château de Chillon.
Occupying a stunning position on Lake Geneva, this oval-shaped 13th-century fortress is a maze of courtyards,
towers and halls filled with arms, period furniture and artwork. The landward side is heavily fortified but lakeside it
presents a gentler face. Chillon was largely built by the House of Savoy and taken over by Bern's governors after
Vaud fell to Bern. Don't miss the medieval frescos in the Chapelle St Georges and the spooky Gothic dungeons .
The fortress gained fame in 1816 when Byron wrote The Prisoner of Chillon, a poem about François Bonivard,
thrown into the dungeon for his seditious ideas and freed by Bernese forces in 1536. Byron carved his name into the