A little history of Ripaille castle
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The tops
Nice name, for a medieval castle! Ripaille means “feast”... The tradition says the expression “to have a feast” (faire ripaille) came from our castle's name! Because in counts of Savoie house, we ate a lot...
It was count of Savoie’s wife, Bonne of Bourbon, who raised a stronghold on the foundation of a Roman city, from 1371. In 1409, count Amédée VII founded a small priory dedicated to Saint-Maurice on the estate: in fact, he raised it upon Bonne’s castle!
But this little priory was extended: in 1434 Saint-Maurice order was founded here. Amédée was the prior and raised his little castle next to it: the current Ripaille! But Amédée became antipope in 1449, so the order disappeared.
They transformed the castle into a hospital in 1536. Then Ripaille fell to Carthusian monks in 1623: they raised a charterhouse between the castle and the priory. But when Savoie was annexed by France in 1792, monks were expelled.
Ripaille was sold 4 years later. In 1892, new owner turned up: they demolished a part of the charterhouse, a part of the chapel raised by Amédée VII... and completely altered the castle!