The Collégiale of Valangin

24 January 2022

Valangin was a seigneurie in the Middle Ages. The town was surrounded by a city wall and a moat. Two fortified gates and the castle tower were part of the wall.

A wooden drawbridge led to roads from the seigneurie, Neuchâtel and the Swiss Plateau. Valangin was chosen by Claude d’Arberg, lord of Valangin, to build the Collégiale St. Pierre. It was consecrated in 1505.

The presence of a church with canons increased the status of the town. The aim was to build one of the largest Gothic buildings in the region. Seven terraced houses were built north and east of the church to accommodate the seven canons and the provost. They still form the heart of the present castle. In 1531, the citizens ransacked the church, which subsequently became Protestant.

(Source and further information: www.neuchatelville.ch).