Visiting Annecy in Haute-Savoie

Annecy and its lake are wonderful places to spend a vacation day. There is everything to entertain and there are many cultural sites to visit.

Located along the lake of the same name, Annecy owes its special charm to his old neighborhood, mostly pedestrian. The streets are lined with arcaded houses with vaulted passages leading to the docks along the canal Thiou. The Palais de l'Isle ( twelfth century ) advances like the prow of a ship; first residence of the Lord of Annecy, it was later turned into a prison and now houses the History Museum of Annecy. Inside it there is a beautiful model representing the city in the eighteenth century.

The church of Saint -Maurice worth a visit: built in the fifteenth century, it has a Gothic nave lined with side chapels offered by the noble families of the region. Each corporation is represented, including tailors, symbolized by scissors.


The Cathedral of St. Peter in memory of Francis de Sales (1567-1622) , a holy priest whose words were "sweet as honey". He founded with St. Jane de Chantal the Order of the Visitation. It is also in this church that Jean- Jacques , then 16 years old, he met in a "flowery Easter" 1728 , Madame de Warrens, this lovely lady who was both for him his protective and his great love. He later wrote in his Confessions: "Let me enclose this happy place with a golden baluster ! " Today, the bust of the philosopher is placed in a closed position by a gilded balustrade niche.

A castle build between the twelfth and the sixteenth century dominates the town; it was the residence of the Dukes of Savoy. A regional museum dedicated to archeology, the natural history, cultural traditions and lifestyles of Savoy has been built in the Vieux Logis.

On leaving the city, the modern Church of the Visitation houses the relics of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. Stained glass trace their history. At 16 pm on Saturday , the bells chime 38 starts ... The bells can play all kinds of music, classical or modern.

Along the clear blue Annecy’s Lake, the beaches are present and nautical centers allow for dinghy or windsurfing, some shipping companies offer cruises .


The Museum of the Bell is located in Sévrier (5km towards Albertville ) , in the Paccard foundry . This is where the Savoyard was cast , the great bell which is located in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris. A slide show and a video explain the manufacturing of bells.

A little out of the lake stands a fairy tale palace bristling with towers; it is the Château de Menthon, where St. Bernard , the saint patron of mountaineers was born. It is said that, wanting to devote his life to God, he refused to marry and that the day of the ceremony, he fled the castle sawing a bar of the window of his room.