18th July – Gruyeres was our last stop for the day. It gives its name to the well-known cheese. This shot shows the town centre - the street to the right leads to the Gruyeres castle while that on the left to the town walls.
The historical town is placed on top of an isolated hill north of the alps, in the foothills of mount Moléson and apart from a trackless train it is all pedestrianised .
There is proof that a Roman settlement was probably located on a hill in Gruyères. Between the 11th and 16th century ninneteen counts ruled the town. The last of them, Michel, had been in financial trouble almost all his life only to end in bankruptcy in 1554. His creditors the cantons of Fribourg and Bern shared his earldom between them with the castle of Gruyeres beccoming residence to the bailiffs and then to the prefects sent by Fribourg. Since 1993, a foundation ensures the conservation as well as the highlighting of the castle building and its collection.
Thank you so much for looking and for your lovely comments on yesterday’s picture.
I had to laugh at this one Dione! We have a saying here in the US that when something is cheesy, it means it is tacky and cheaply made. So I was looking at your picture and thinking, "This is a nice shot. I don't understand why he thinks it's cheesy." Then all of a sudden it hit me as to why you called it cheesy! lol Oh my, I guess the car troubles yesterday rattled me more than I realized! Nice shot- and such interesting history.
I do like Gruyeres cheese. No doubt there was an opportunity to buy it there! Interesting info too. If poor old Count Michel hadn't gone bankrupt the castle might still be privately owned and not open to visitors!
I bet the cheese was great too