Arconciel Castle (Ruin)

Directly next to the forest edge, the visitor descends through the old trench that defended the village to the east. The short ascent leads to the gate and the rampart, whose remains are clearly visible. The path passes two rows of houses on the left and right. At the western end, the path goes through the western gate to the tower, which still stands today. Its walls clearly show the construction technique of the 12th and 13th centuries, which was considered a period of prosperity for the village.

The center of the Lordship of Arconciel, that is, the site of Arconciel in the loop of the Sarine and the castle of Illens on the other bank at the top of a cape, had to control an important ford and presumably rivaled the city of Fribourg unsuccessfully. The entire Lordship comprised several parishes in the region. After the castle, the village received a charter of liberties in 1251 from Peter II of Savoy, then in full expansion policy. The village could not develop further and increasingly fell into ruin from the 14th century onwards. Conquered by Bern and Fribourg during the Burgundian Wars, the Lordship was finally assigned to the Fribourgers, the last in a long list of feudal lords who acquired the Lordship either through marriage, sale, or inheritance. The village and its castle became a quarry for the city of Fribourg and the surrounding churches.