Five thousand years before J. C, the earliest nobles presiding over the Vevey Montreux area had their throne at Châtelard.
Roman era: discovery of remains in the surrounding area.
Towards the year 1000AD: the Kingdom of Bourgogne was the first power to invest in the land in order to build a "Châtelard", more commonly known as a "Fort en bois" (wooden fort). However, at that time, the climate and the evolution of military techniques almost resulted in the total disappearance of the first monument erected in this area.
At the end of the 13th century: the region, which was back then a dependency of the Diocese of Lausanne, switched hands and went under the Diocese of Sion. The latter contracted a considerable amount of debts during the war it was waging against the Emperor Rodolphe de Habsbourg. So much in fact that in 1295 the successor of the Diocese, Boniface of Challans, yielded his rights over the surroundings of Montreux to Girard d'Oron. Girard d'Oron was the first non-religious lord of the Châtelard since the kingdom of Bourgogne.
1317: The Count Amédée V of Savoie and the Baron of Châtelard signed a key treaty for Montreux, following which the commune was for nearly six centuries divided into two parts: "Châtelard", on one hand, and "Planches" on the other
1352 : the " Green Count ", Amédée VI of Savoie, signed a treaty with François de la Sarraz, and gave him six hundred pounds asking him to transform the ruins of the ex-Châtelard into a real castle.
1442: Nearly a hundred years after the passing of François de la Sarraz, his successor put the last brick into the Castle, which in all took only two years to be built. The author of this work was known as Jean de Gingins. He was considered the true father and founder of the barony of Châtelard, which back then included eighteen towns, forming nine administrations.
1476: Whilst Pierre de Gingis, son of Jean, led the war against the Valaisans along with the help of the people of Montreux, the soldiers of the nearby area of Gessenay and the Pays-d'en-haut joined the army of "la Gruyère" and invaded and sacked the "Chateau du Châtelard" and the Montreux area. Two months later, the baron of Châtelard, together with 500 of his men were massacred by the people of Simmenthal at the neighbouring Tour-de-Peilz Castle.
1536 : The canton of Vaud fell into and stayed in the hands of the Bernois until the Vaudois revolution in 1798. At this point, the baron of Châtelard was a member of the Bondeli family, who had Bernois origins. He therefore represented for the vaudois people the occupant who put an end to the occupation through a revolution supported by Napoleon's army, of which one of the main officers was French-vaudois: Benjamin Fornerod de Monds d'Avanche. Anecdote: the second Swiss-French president of the Swiss Confederation was a member of the actual barons of Châtelard family.
1961 : The towns of " Châtelard " and "Planches"
merged and gave back political unity to Montreux. Twenty years later, in 1983,
the Forenerod de Mons d'Avanche family acquired the "Chateau du Châtelard",
and now show it in the third millennium in full respect for its history.