Reaching Roc de Chère via Talloires : In the footsteps of the past

The priory was founded in 1018 and became a royal abbey in 1674. The monks lived in the abbey up until 1793. For a long time, they were the owners of a section of the Roc de Chère, and used the site in a variety of ways: harvesting firewood, grazing livestock, growing crops (wheat, rye, barley, vines), farming fish (with the addition of a fishpond) and extracting materials. The monks' path was restored in late 2012. Back then, the forest was considerably less dense!

On the other side of the shore is located the peninsula of Duingt, home to castle of Duingt since approximately 1000 years. The castle was formerly called ‘Châteauvieux’. This fortress of medieval origin, property of the lords of Duin, made it possible to control the route of salt trade between Moutiers in the Savoie region and Geneva. Châteauvieux has now become the property of the Certeau family.

Looking beyond this beautiful view, you will surely have spotted the round marks of ancient millstone extractions in the sandstone slabs. There is also an engraved cross representing the former demarcation line between the territory of the County of Menthon and that of the monks of Talloires Abbey. In the 17th century, some of the stones were removed, probably for use as grinding stones for grapes, wheat, or walnuts and to produce wine, flour, or oil.

The Golf course at Lake Annecy was created in 1953 on the Roc de Chère site. At that time, the national nature reserve did not yet exist, as it was only created in 1977. Today, the golf course boasts a total of 18 holes, part of which is located in the heart of the nature reserve. An environmental charter sets out objectives for preserving the ecosystems and defines the best practices to be put in place as part of a partnership to ensure biodiversity friendly environment.

The karstic massif of the Roc de Chère shape looks just like a big slice of Swiss cheese, due to the breakdown of the rock by the circulating water. As a result, it is riddled with a plethora of caves, most of which are adjacent with the lake. The largest is the Grand Pertuis (see photo), which means "fissure", a narrow passage between the rocks. This cave is only accessible from the lake. Please stay on the trails to respect the biodiversity of this fragile environment.

In the 12th century, the Menthon-Saint-Bernard castle served as a stronghold where villagers could seek refuge during turbulent times. It was only after the Renaissance that the austere castle was transformed into a residential estate. Today, it is a rich manor house that has belonged to the same family for 23 generations.

Just opposite the Château de Duingt, you can see the remains of a civilisation dating back to more than 3,000 years BC. Under the waters of Lake Annecy lie ancient palaeolithic sites. Wooden piles are evidence of the existence of ancient dwellings built on stilts below the current level of Lake Annecy / built on the shores of Lake Annecy, which was then lower than it is today. Three such areas have been identified on Lake Annecy (2 in Sévrier and one in St Jorioz). They are among the 111 palaeolithic sites found throughout the Alps and listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.