Cheyres Castle

The Lordship of Cheyres was a fief of the Lords of Estavayer. After the conquest of Vaud, it paid homage to Fribourg but remained independent until the beginning of the 18th century. On May 14, 1704, Anne-Judith de Praroman and her husband Abraham Ancel sold the small lordship, consisting of the municipalities of Cheyres, Bollon, and Seiry, to the State of Fribourg. Instead of uniting it with the bailiwicks of Estavayer or Font-laMoliere, the new authorities decided to make it a new bailiwick. The arrival of the new bailiff was preceded by repairs and re-equipping of the castle, the chapel, the tithe barn, the mill, the dovecote, and the granary. However, in view of the poor condition of the bailiff's residence, it was decided as early as 1760 to demolish it and build a new castle in the bailiffs' garden. The project for the new building was approved in the autumn of 1772. The shell construction took place the following year, and the castle was to be completed in 1774. The master mason Johann Popleter, who was commissioned with the construction, could have designed the plans. Four years later, he drew those of the bailiff's castle of Wissens.

This entrepreneur, recognized for his competence, came from Dürenbyren near Feldkirch and belonged to a small group of master builders from Vorarlberg. They carried out the larger construction projects in the Canton of Fribourg in the second half of the 18th century. The building, skillfully implanted on the sloping plot, has a representative, three-story facade on the courtyard side, while on the garden side, due to the difference in level, it is reduced to two stories. It has imposing cellars which indicate the importance of viticulture in this region. The rooms are arranged on both sides of a central staircase. They are generously proportioned and house the most beautiful ensemble of tiled stoves in the Canton of Fribourg from the André Nuoffer workshop, the best potter's workshop in the capital.

After the fall of the Old Swiss Confederacy, the small bailiwick was assigned to the Broye district and consequently lost its bailiff. In March 1800, the renovated and modernized castle, including the granary, cellar, press, barn, two stables, shed, oven house, two courtyards, and a vegetable garden, was put up for sale and transferred. From 1818 to 1960, it belonged to the parish of Cheyres and served as a rectory. Subsequently, it became private property again and belonged notably to Professor Armand Delachaux, full professor at the medical faculty of Lausanne and recognized specialist in physical medicine.