At the Chillon Castle, located on Lake Geneva, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

 “It’s tough to find a place not to like in Switzerland.”

– Michele Bachman
=====================================================================
(on Lake Geneva, south of Veytaux in the Swiss canton of Vaud) Chillon Castle (French: Château de Chillon) is an island medieval castle located on Lake Geneva, south of Veytaux; it is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, which gives access to the Alpine valley of the Rhône. Chillon is among the most visited medieval castles in Switzerland (and Europe) Successively occupied by the House of Savoy, then by the Bernese from 1536 until 1798, it now belongs to the State of Vaud and is classified as a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance. The Fort de Chillon, its modern counterpart, is hidden in the steep side of the mountain.

+ According to the Swiss ethnologist Albert Samuel Gatschet, the name Chillon derives from the Waldensian dialect and means "flat stone, slab, platform". The name Castrum Quilonis, attested from 1195, would, therefore, mean "castle built on a rock platform.

+ The castle of Chillon is built on the island of Chillon, an oval limestone rock advancing in Lake Geneva between Montreux and Villeneuve with a steep side on one side and on the other side the lake and its steep bottom. The placement of the castle is strategic: it guards the passage between the Vaud Riviera, which allows access to the north towards Germany and France, and the Rhone valley, a quick route to Italy, and offers a viewpoint over the Savoyard coast on the opposite side of the lake. A garrison could thus control (both militarily and commercially) access to the road to Italy and apply a toll.

+ Chillon has been a military site since the Roman period and the development of the current castle spans three periods: the Savoy Period, the Bernese Period, and the Vaudois Period. During the 16th century Wars of Religion, the dukes of Savoy used the castle to house prisoners.
In 1536, the castle was captured by a Genevois and Bernese army, and all the prisoners, including de Bonivard, were released. The castle became the residence for the Bernese bailiff until Chillon was converted into a state prison in 1733.

+ In 1798, the French-speaking canton of Vaud drove out the German-speaking Bernese authorities and declared the Lemanic Republic. The Vaudois invited in French troops to help them maintain autonomy from the other Swiss.

+ From the end of the 18th century, the castle attracted romantic writers and inspired poets from around the world, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron. By 1939, helped by its proximity to the popular tourist destination Montreux, the castle was attracting some 100,000 visitors a year. By 2005, this number had increased to 300,000.

+ Chillon remains open to the public for visits and is now considered to be "Switzerland's most visited historic monument."