Several years ago I was lucky enough to visit in Annecy, an ancient and beautiful town in France, located 40 miles from Geneva on the shores of picturesque blue lake, which is considered to be the purest lake of Europe.
Much I liked it: the waterfront, Perrier, and St. Mauritius Church, and fairy lake, but today I want to tell you about another medieval castle with an interesting history. Island Palace - Palais de l'ile was built here in the XII century on a small island, right in the center of the channel called TIA. To me it resembled an old ship, likely from the corner of this building that resembles a ship's nose.
The castle itself is a bit gloomy and mysterious, and that he once belonged to the Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Then served as the princely residence of Helena to Luxembourg, who was his wife. Then it was the Palace of justice, the mint, the accounting chamber, but due to the location on the island, it was the perfect place for keeping various criminals. A little later there was a nursing home, a school for masons and carpenters.
And at the end of the XIX-th century the castle was under threat of destruction, and only thanks to the requests of the public it is not demolished, and began to restore. Now it houses the Museum of the history of Annecy with regional exposure.
But around the old castle has a lot of vivid residential buildings: cafes, restaurants, bars, attracting curious tourists with fragrant odors. You can always meet a variety of birds: seagulls, ducks, swans, pigeons beg for many tourists their livelihood - to pay for beautiful photos.
Near this building is always Packed with tourists, all want to be photographed against the background of an ancient castle, if you wish, you can go inside, but it's cold and damp...
I suggest to watch a short video.