Roc de Chère since Talloires : On the traces of the past

Founded in 1018, the priory became a royal abbey in 1674. The monks lived there until 1793. They owned a part of Roc de Chère for a long time and used it for different purposes: harvesting firewood, pastures for livestock, growing crops (wheat, rye, barley, vines), fish farming with the creation of a fish pond, extraction of materials. The monks' path was rehabilitated at the end of 2012. At the time, the forest was much less present!

On the other side of the shore is located the peninsula of Duingt, home to castle of Duingt since approximately 1000 years. The caste 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.

Beyond this beautiful view, you have certainly noticed the circular traces of old millstone extractions in the sandstone slabs. An engraved cross represents the former limit between the territory of the County of Menthon and that of the monks of the abbey of Talloires. During the 17th century, some stones were removed, probably to be used as millstones for grapes, wheat or nuts, to produce wine, flour or oil.

The golf course of the lake of Annecy was created in 1953 on the site of Roc de Chère. At that time, the national nature reserve did not yet exist, since it was created only in 1977. Today the golf course has 18 holes and part of it is located in the heart of the nature reserve. An environmental charter sets the goals for the preservation of ecosystems and as well as the good practices for a partnership in order to ensure biodiversity preservation.

Roc de Chère, a karstic massif, is full of holes in the undergound due to the dissolution of the soluble rocks by running water. Because of this dissolution, it has lots of underground caves, most of which are connected to the lake.
The largest one is Grand Pertuis (see photo), which means crack, narrow passage between rocks. This cave is only accessible by the lake.

Respect the biodiversity of this fragile environment by staying on the tracks.

The Château of Menthon-Saint-Bernard was used during the 12th century as a fortified castle in which the villagers could find refuge during troubled times. It was only after the Renaissance that the austere castle was transformed into a residence. Nowadays it is a rich seigneurial residence, which belongs to the same family since 23 generations.

Facing the Château de Duingt, you can observe the remains of a civilization dating back more than 3000 years before our era. Indeed, the lake of Annecy hides ancient pile-dwelling sites under its water. Wooden piles prove the existence of old dwellings on stilts, built on the current location of the lake of Annecy / built on the shores of the lake of Annecy which water level was then lower than it is today.

Three areas of this type have been identified on the lake of Annecy (two at Sévrier and one at St Jorioz). They are part of the 111 pile-dwelling sites found throughout the Alpine arc and listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.