Hotels in Chambery, France

A little about Chambery...

Chambéry is the capital of the department of Savoie, France. It has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made it his seat of power.

The Fontaine des Éléphants ("Elephants Fountain") is surely the most famous landmark in Chambéry. It was built in 1838 to honour Benoît de Boigne's feats when he was in India. This statue, which represents the forelimbs of four elephants truncated in a column in the shape of the savoyan (savoyarde) cross was first hooted by the inhabitants, annoyed to see elephants in their city, but it appears that now, most of them have accepted. Witness of the previous dislike, the statue kept its nickname of les quatre sans culs, ("the four without arse(s)" sounding almost like the title of the best-known movie of the most prominent nouvelle vague director François Truffaut : "Les quatre-cent coups"/The 400 Blows).

Chambéry is also an archdiocese. The jurisdiction dœs not precisely conform to the boundaries of the modern arrondissement and includes some towns in the arrondissement of Annecy (Haute-Savoie), and in the arrondissement of Albertville (Savoie).

Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy and his Duchess Yolande of France built a ducal chapel for their prized relic, the Santo Sudario, the Holy Shroud (now in Turin). In 1467 Pope Paul II, erected a chapter directly subject to the Holy See. In 1515, Leo X was going to make the religious jurisdiction an archbishopric and published a bull to that effect, but King Francis I of France objected. It was only in 1775 that this jurisdiction was separated from the Diocese of Grenoble by Pope Pius VI. In 1779, the see at Chambéry became a bishopric, the fourth bishop for Savoy. After the French Revolution, when Chambéry returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy, it became the seat of an archbishop (1817).

The Cistercian Abbey of Hautecombe, founded in 1135, is one of the burial places of the House of Savoy. Saint Francis de Sales officiated at Notre-Dame de Myans (established before the 12th century). Francis I of France went to Notre-Dame de l'Aumône at Romilly (13th century) as a pilgrim. The Sisters of St Joseph, an order founded at Chambéry in 1812 and devoted to teaching and charitable work, are now widespread.

Transportation: Chambéry Airport serves Chambéry.