The site, which has been occupied since the fourth century AD, strategically controlled the route across the junction of the Isere and Arc rivers.

Located in the foothills of the Arclusaz mountains, the fortress lies on a 550m-long rocky ridge 200m above the Combe de Savoie valley.

Following the repatriation (they fled to the Dominican Republic in the New World) of the Lords of Miolans in 1523, ownership of the castle passed to the Counts of Savoy.

In 1869, Eugene Alexander Guiter, Prefect of Savoy, privately bought the fortress from the French state and began its restoration.

The Marquis instructed Latour to leave a candle burning in his room, along with a note on the table to the guards.

It said the Marquis praised the decency with which he had been treated and expressed his hope that the guards would not be held accountable for his escape.