Chateau de la Commanderie * * *

Restaurant

The Chef Rui ROUXINOL and all his team are happy to welcome you in the dinning rooms of the castle and propose you to taste a light and refined cooking.

HISTORY OF THE CASTLE

The first informations we have about the Chateau de la Commanderie are from 1259, under the name of “maladrery de la Levade”. It was about a leper-house of Templiers.In 1311, Templiers were dissolved by the council of Vienna, then by the Pope in 1312. Their properties were supposed to be transfered to the Order of St Jean of Jerusalem, which will become “order of the knights of Malta”, but, with the removal of the templiers, the "dauphin" Jean II seized the Commanderie.

After the leaving of leprous, Commanderie will belong to the ordinary agricultural management of the commanders of Echirolles. It seem that the castle was then sold, in the XVIéme, because we don't find any more informations in the official reports of the visitors of Malta Order, and it was registered in the inventory of the national properties of the religious orders during the French revolution.

In 1808, the castle was the property of Mr. Joseph DASTIER, then of the family BRUN beer brewer in Grenoble, and natural owner of the “refrigerators of La Frise”, where they stored their beers. It is this family which added one more floor above the dining room, restored the roofs, addes a new part on the right side of the castle,... in order to make it more comfortable. We can still see two original loopholes which were to defend the access of the castle, as well as a sarcophagus whose origin is still a mystery.

ABOUT GRENOBLE

Because this city, the ancient capital of the Dauphine, is the commercial, intellectual, and tourist center of the Alps, it's a major stop for travelers (including those driving between the Riviera and Geneva).
A sports capital in winter and summer, it attracts many foreign students -- its university has the largest summer-session program in Europe. Founded in 1339, the University of Grenoble has a student body of some 40,000. With a population of 400,000, this town is also home to four other universities with a large segment of English and American students, giving the city a cosmopolitan air.