Yverdon-les-Bains Castle, Medieval castle in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.
Yverdon-les-Bains Castle is a medieval fortress in Switzerland with four towers connected by thick stone walls. Today it houses a museum, theatre, and conference spaces, and sits near Lake Neuchâtel.
Peter II, Count of Savoy, acquired Yverdon in 1260 and had a quadrangular castle built between 1260 and 1265 by masons Jean and Jacques de Saint-Georges, father and son. The young James of St. George, later master castle builder for Edward I in Wales, trained on this site. Bernese conquest in 1536 made it the seat of the bailiffs until 1798.
The castle houses the regional museum where you can see how people lived in this area across different periods, from ancient times to today. The collections show what daily life looked like and how the town changed over the centuries.
The castle stands on the alluvial ground beside the Thièle, and the town walls once joined it at the eastern gate, where a drawbridge crossed the river. The museum, theatre and library occupy the building today; the medieval rooms and the former school floors are reached on foot from the town centre.
The castle's library, founded in 1763, is the oldest public library in French-speaking Switzerland. It is now part of the regional museum, which has occupied the castle since 1830. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions of the Swiss Fashion Museum.
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