From the Château de Sales to the Chapel of Sales
The Château de Sales, the first Thorennaise residence of the de Sales family, was located approximately 200 meters above the Château de Thorens. It was in this residence that Saint Francis de Sales was born on August 21, 1567. Barely 63 years later, Sales was destroyed during the French occupation of the Duchy of Savoy.
In the spring of 1630, the King of France, Louis XIII, ordered his troops to invade the Duchy of Savoy. Arriving under the ramparts of Annecy, the royal army, commanded by Gaspard III de Coligny (1584-1646), Marshal of Châtillon, encountered resistance from Baron Louis de Sales (1577-1654), Captain-Governor of Annecy, at the head of his garrison. Thus, from May 23 to 25, 1630, Baron de Sales, younger brother of Saint Francis, undertook to resist the royal army. However, the Annecy garrison was no match for the army of the King of France. Louis capitulated on the third day, surrendering with the honors of war.
Thanks to this surrender, Baron de Sales both avoided a bloody outcome to the siege of Annecy and spared the lives of its inhabitants. Nevertheless, the reaction of Louis XIII and Richelieu was not long in coming: in order to atone for what they considered an affront, but which was none other than the bravery of Louis de Sales, Marshal de Châtillon was ordered to go to Thorens to dismantle the Château de Sales. There is no mention of any reprisals against the Baron. On the other hand, out of gratitude to Louis de Sales who was able to preserve the lives of the people of Annecy, and in compensation for the destruction of the Château de Sales, the Duke of Savoy, Victor-Amédée I, elevated Baron de Sales to the title of Count (1). Louis de Sales and his family then settled in the Château de Thorens.
It is in this same Thorens castle, acquired by Saint Francis de Sales on behalf of his family in 1602, that the descendants of Louis (the Roussy de Sales family) still reside today. In 1672, three of Louis de Sales' sons built a chapel on the ruins of the Sales castle, precisely on the site of the birthplace of their uncle Saint Francis. This chapel was restored by Count François de Roussy de Sales (1860-1943). He added a vault in which were placed the ashes of his ancestors, formerly buried in the parish church of Thorens (Saint Sebastian chapel). The Sales chapel has since been the necropolis of the Roussy de Sales family.
The last Count of Thorens, Jean-François de Roussy de Sales (1928-1999), grandson of Count François, now rests in this chapel with his ancestors. The site has been listed since 1982. The chapel's decor consists primarily of a Baroque altarpiece dating from 1677, clumsily restored in the XNUMXth century.
In the chapel of the former Château de Sales, Saint Francis received the inspiration from God to create the Order of the Visitation. The 19th-century stone cross located opposite the current chapel of Sales marks this precise location.