Supposedly, once a Genevois scholar, François Bonivard, was
improsened here. Later, Byron visited the place and a guid at the fort
told him the story of Bonivard. Byron was highly impressed and wrote a
poem in his regard. The poem follows:

Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls:
A thousand feet in depth below
Its massy waters meet and flow...
There are seven pillars of Gothic mould,
In Chillon's dungeons deep and old,
There are seven columns massy and grey,
Dim with a dull imprison'd ray,