Île d'Ogoz

Site Canton of Fribourg · District: Gruyère · Uninhabited site (municipality of Pont-en-Ogoz)

Part of the municipality of Pont-en-Ogoz

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Île d'Ogoz

The island bears the name of Ogoz, a former imperial district that matched the county of Gruyère, recorded in 929 in the Latin form « Pagus Ausicensis » and in 1040 as « Osgo ». The origin of the name remains obscure, between a Celtic, Latin or Germanic root. The castle and small town on the island were called Pont, after the Thusy bridge that crossed the Sarine further upstream.^[2][3]

Founding of Île d'Ogoz

Before the lake, the island was a spur caught in a bend of the Sarine, visited from the Mesolithic onwards. A tower stood here as early as the 12th century, and the lords of Pont are recorded around 1160. In the 13th century a second castle, a small town and the Saint-Théodule chapel were built. The town declined in the 14th century, at the time of the plague, lay in ruins by the 16th century and was abandoned in 1617. The filling of the Lac de la Gruyère in spring 1948 cut the hill off in the middle of the water, in today's municipality of Pont-en-Ogoz.^[1][2][5]

History of Île d'Ogoz

Mesolithic. People visit the spur as early as 9000 to 5000 BC. Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age objects have also been found here.^[1][4]

Around 1160. The lordship of Pont appears in the records.^[1][2]

12th century. A first tower, founded on clayey moraine rather than on sandstone like the two later ones, rises at the north end of the spur.^[1][4]

1226. The chapel is mentioned for the first time.^[1][4]

1250. Three co-lords of Pont pay homage to Peter II of Savoy.^[2]

Last third of the 13th century. The Maggenberg and the Pont families build two twin towers, each at the head of its own castle, with their living quarters. A refuge town stretches west of the castle mound.^[1][2]

Mid-14th century. The town declines quickly, at the time of the plague.^[1][2]

1359. The lordship becomes a Savoyard castellany.^[2]

1482. Antoine de Menthon sells the lordship to Fribourg, which makes it its first bailiwick. The following year the chapel's bell gable receives the date 1483, commissioned by the Menthon family.^[1][2]

From 1505. The castles are dismantled to strengthen the walls of Fribourg.^[1]

1599-1600. Jean-Ulrich de Gottrau and his wife Marie Erhart have the chapel renovated: new roof frame, panelled barrel vault and a Mannerist altarpiece.^[1]

1617. The site, already in ruins in the 16th century, is abandoned. Its buildings then serve as a stone quarry.^[1]

Around 1740. Marie-Ursule and Marie-Marguerite von der Weid give the chapel a Régence-style frame.^[1]

1947-1948. A first archaeological excavation campaign explores the site.^[4]

1948. In spring the Lac de la Gruyère floods the bend. Only the castle ruins and the chapel remain above water, forming the Île d'Ogoz.^[1][2][5]

1994-2009. The ruins are consolidated and laid out for visitors.^[1]

1996. The Association de l'île d'Ogoz is founded to preserve the site.^[3]

1999-2003. The chapel and its altarpiece are restored.^[1][4]

2002-2003. A new excavation campaign explores the island.^[4]

2004. Flaviano Salzani makes the tabernacle door. The same year the archaeological service of the canton of Fribourg publishes its study of the site in the Cahiers d'archéologie fribourgeoise.^[1][4]

Historic sites in Île d'Ogoz

Saint-Théodule chapel. The only building of the town still standing, of tuff blocks, with a bell gable dated 1483. The north and west walls come from a building of the 13th or first half of the 14th century. It keeps the Mannerist altarpiece of 1599-1600, of which Saint Theodule, God the Father and a female saint remain, a painted antependium from the early 18th century, two paintings from the first half of the 18th century and a bell of 1602. The chapel was a daughter church of the parish of Avry-devant-Pont.^[1][2][4]

Ruins of the castles of Pont. On the western summit of the island, the remains of the castles of the co-lords of Pont are among the few medieval fortresses on the left bank of the Sarine: a 12th-century tower and 13th-century twin towers to the north, a large tower to the south. The site is listed as a cultural property of national importance.^[1][6]

Reaching the island. At low water the island can be reached on foot, otherwise by boat. From May to October the Association Île d'Ogoz runs Sunday afternoon crossings from the Ogoz harbour at Le Bry.^[4]

Remains in Île d'Ogoz

Town of Pont. The 13th-century town, weakened in the 14th century, in ruins in the 16th and abandoned in 1617. In the middle of the refuge town survive the foundations of a building, perhaps a court hall or the residence of one of the co-lords.^[1][2]

Fortified house. West of the north tower stood a fortified house, probably burned in the 15th century.^[1]

Prehistoric traces. Mesolithic stone tools, Neolithic stone objects and pottery, and Middle Bronze Age pottery from the last prehistoric occupation of the site. The Iron Age and Roman times left only a few traces.^[4]

Sources

This page was last updated on 26.10.2026

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