The exhibition at Gruyères castle

History breathes in rooms at the castle like the Knight's Hall. Gruyères Castle

Artist Lucienne Fontannaz has illustrated nine local legends. Each story is told through a series of half a dozen paintings, and a short accompanying text in French, German and English.

The exhibition, “Gruyères Legends”, runs until November 10.

Fontannaz based her works on conversations with local people and historians during her travels around Gruyères last year, and on archive material.

The exhibition is housed in two vaulted rooms at the castle, creating the right aura for revisiting the old stories through the paintings.

The paintings are for sale and range in price from SFr2,000 ($1,300) to SFr4,000.

Castle tour

A tour of the castle takes visitors through eight centuries. The ground floor and castle keep date back to the 13th century, while the main building was reconstructed in a Renaissance style at the turn of the 16th century.

There are gothic and Renaissance furnishings, heraldic stained glass windows, sundials and even the tools of the trade of a 17th century bird catcher.

The castle also houses a permanent exhibition of fantastic art by Jean Lurçat.

The castle is open daily from April to October from 9am to 6pm, and from 10am to 4.30pm from November to March.

Entrance to the castle costs SFr6, and SFr2 for children between six and 16 years of age.

swissinfo, Dale Bechtel