Avalon Tower

The Tour d’Avalon, erected in honor of Saint-Hugues d’Avalon, born in 1140, was painstakingly restored by Carthusian monks in 1895. Rooted in the history of an ancient fortified village, this structure bears witness to the glorious past of the Wallon and Romestang d’Avalon family of lords, present in the upper Grésivaudan region since the year 1000.

The restored building still bears traces of the early 14th-century walls, remnants of the delphinal tower erected at the time when the castle evolved into a stronghold, surrounded by ramparts. In the 12th century, Guillaume III Romestang and his wife Anna de Theys, lords of the mandement d’Avalon, occupied the ancestral stronghold situated slightly to the north of the present tower, already equipped with a round tower.

The Romestang family, also known as the “Poype family” since 1132, resided on a motte castrale, a mound of earth housing a medieval defensive settlement. Remains such as a water ditch, now classified as a Sensitive Natural Area (ENS), are a reminder of its multifunctional role, also acting as a fishpond. The Tour d’Avalon is thus a masterpiece of the region’s medieval heritage.