With its splendor, its charm and its memories, Ripaille is one of the largest residences on the French Lake Geneva shore. A first-rate heritage and environmental interpretation site in Haute-Savoie, the medieval site is today a rare testimony to life in 1900.
Beyond history, visiting Ripaille means discovering a preserved nature, an exceptional land and magnificent landscapes between Dent d'Oche and Lake Geneva.
Settled in the Bronze Age, Ripaille was a prosperous villa in Gallo-Roman times, as evidenced by important ruins.
In the Middle Ages, it was one of the main residences of the counts and dukes of Savoy, in the 17th and 18th centuries a Carthusian convent, protected from the "century" by the high wall that still surrounds it today, in 1900 the property of a great industrialist and aesthete, Ripaille has always been a place where residents and visitors come to "recharge their batteries" in its calm and beauty, and to restore themselves from the hectic pace and worries of life.
Covering 120 acres on the shores of Lake Geneva, Ripaille is not only worthy of its architecture and history, linked to the most brilliant periods of Savoy's past, but also of its nature - especially its forests - and its wine.
Today Ripaille is largely a private estate belonging to the Necker-Engel family, descendants of Louis XVI's finance minister. Each year up to more than 50 thousand people visit the site for guided tours, seminars, weddings, exhibitions and other events, walks in the woods, swimming along its shores and buying wine.
UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE CHATEAU DE RIPAILLE
Des Ténèbres à la lumière
Sunday, 9 April 2023
18h
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Guided tours with Ripaille wine tasting
From 11 April through 5 May 2023
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
15h-16h30
Entrance fee for the castle + €5 for wine tasting and snack
Wednesdays
→ Every first Wednesday of the month is reserved for children's birthday parties.
→ The other two Wednesdays are dedicated to workshops for children from 7 to 12 years old. From 14h30 to 16h with a snack.
→ The last Wednesdays of the month are reserved for toddlers from 3 to 6 years old. From 15h to 16h with a snack.
God save the king ? Songs and music à l’époque élisabéthaine
Saturday, 3 June 2023
17h → Concert Tea time
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Christine de Suède : conférence et théâtre musical
Sunday, 28 May 2023
17h → Conférence : « Christine de Suède, une femme dans un siècle d’hommes »
18h → Théâtre musical : « Christine de Suède, la confession d’un roi »
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Frédéric II et Voltaire : conférence et théâtre musical
Wednesday, 9 August 2023
18h → Conférence : « Frédéric II : un roi musicien philosophe ».
19h → Théâtre musical + cocktail dînatoire : « Frédéric II et Voltaire : la querelle des égos ».
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Chanter et danser Dieu au XVIIe siècle
Sunday, 22 October 2023
18h → Concert Tea time
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Vénus Caméléon
Sunday, 10 September 2023
18h
Théâtre musical
With the baroque ensemble Capella Ripaillensis
Château & Domaine de Ripaille
83, av. de Ripaille
74200 Thonon-les-Bains
France
+33 450 26 64 44
www.ripaille.fr
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Open Tuesday through Sunday 10h-18h
Saturday 10h-17h
From 1 April through 5 November 2023
Additional information
→ Printed tour maps are available in 8 different languages.
→ Free parking on site 35 spaces.
→ Disabled access only in the gardens and the rooms on the first floor of the castle.
→ Pets are not allowed on the grounds of Ripaille.
→ Two special children's tours ("history" and "environment" game books) at the castle reception desk.
→ Allow a minimum of 1.5 hours for the visit with an audioguide (available in French, English or German).
→ A boutique welcomes you on-site.
