Annecy-le-Vieux
Encyclopedia
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...
department in the Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in southeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
It is the fourth-largest town in Haute-Savoie in terms of population, and is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy is a perialpine lake in Haute-Savoie in France .It is the second largest lake in France, after the Lac du Bourget, if the French part of Lake Geneva is excluded. It is known as "Europe's cleanest lake" because of strict environmental regulations introduced in the 1960s...
. It is essentially a residential suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
, being less than 3 km from its centre, and is sometimes known at the "XVIe arrondissement
XVIe arrondissement
The 16th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France...
" of Annecy.
Its mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
, Bernard Accoyer
Bernard Accoyer
Bernard Accoyer is a French politician who is currently the President of the National Assembly of France, as well as the Mayor of Annecy-le-Vieux.-Biography:...
, is serving his second term. A doctor by profession, he is also the député of the district and has been president of the UMP group in the Assemblée nationale since 2002.
Geography
The commune is 50% urbanised with 33 hectares of public forest, and 50% agricultural and forests.The commune is located on the foothills of Mount Veyrier (1,291 m), on a moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
at the junction of two old large glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s.
The Fier forms most of the commune's northern border.
History
The shores of Lake Annecy have been occupied since at least 4000 BC. A Gallic tribe, the AllobrogesAllobroges
The Allobroges were a Celtic tribe of ancient Gaul, located between the Rhône River and the Lake of Geneva in what later became Savoy, Dauphiné, and Vivarais. Their cities were in the areas of modern-day Annecy, Chambéry and Grenoble, the modern of Isère, and modern Switzerland...
, occupied the area in pre-Roman times: the Allobroges were finally conquered by the Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s in 62 BC. The area was then colonised by Rome, which founded the town of Boutae (later Annecy) in 50 BC. The town was at a strategic crossroads of three Roman roads across the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, to Italy, to Geneva, and to Vienna, and grew rapidly to a population of several thousand. Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
s are found in the surrounding countryside.
Annecy was attacked by invaders in the post-Roman period, but regained its importance from AD 1107.
Its population had grown to 470 inhabitants by 1756. Grape vines for producing wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
have been cultivated on the surrounding hills since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Various artists lived in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Eugene Sue
Eugène Sue
Joseph Marie Eugène Sue was a French novelist.He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino...
, Adolphe de Custine
Marquis de Custine
Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine was a French aristocrat and writer who is best known for his travel writing, in particular his account of his visit to Russia in 1839 Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia...
, John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
and Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
.
Two principal industrial activities arose in the mid-19th century, the Cléchet flour mill and the Paccard Bell Foundry
Fonderie Paccard
Fonderie Paccard is a French foundry founded in 1796, which has cast more than 120,000 bells located throughout the world. The foundry has been continuously operated for seven generations by the Paccard family. The largest bell cast by Paccard is the World Peace Bell....
. One of largest bells in the world, "La Savoyarde" which hangs at the Sacré Cœur
Basilica of the Sacré Cœur
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica , is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, was cast in Annecy-le-Vieux in 1891. It weighs 18,835 kg, stands 3.06 m tall, has a circumference
Circumference
The circumference is the distance around a closed curve. Circumference is a special perimeter.-Circumference of a circle:The circumference of a circle is the length around it....
of 9.60 m, is 22 cm thick at the base, and has a clapper weiging 850 kg.
At the end of the 19th century, attacks of mildew
Mildew
Mildew refers to certain kinds of molds or fungi.In Old English, it meant honeydew , and later came to mean mildew in the modern sense of mold or fungus....
and phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
almost completely destroyed the grape vines. Wine cultivation was replaced by dairy production.
Annecy includes a university site, attached to the Université de Savoie, with more than 4,000 students in 2003. The university offers programs in technology, commercial arts and trades, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, and particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
.
Tourism
Attractions include the beach Annecy-le-Vieux, boating on Lake AnnecyLake Annecy
Lake Annecy is a perialpine lake in Haute-Savoie in France .It is the second largest lake in France, after the Lac du Bourget, if the French part of Lake Geneva is excluded. It is known as "Europe's cleanest lake" because of strict environmental regulations introduced in the 1960s...
, walking in the hills, including Mount Rampon (957 m), Mount Veyrier (1291 m) and Mount Rampignon (894 m).
Annual events include the Ancilevienne, a 46 km (28.6 mi) race for teams of runners and cyclists around Lake Annecy, and the Gabriel Fauré music festival.
External links
- Town hall - http://www.mairie-annecy-le-vieux.fr/
- Insee - http://www.cinam.com/insee-rhone-alpes/pages/c7401100.htm
- L’Ancilevien - http://michel.lassiouve.free.fr/acylevxfoto.htm
- Tourism - http://www.tourisme-annecy.net/annecy-le-vieux.html
- Tourism - http://www.annecytourisme.com/fr/communes/agglo/Annecy-le-Vieux/annecylevieux.htm