Village de Talloires

The word Talloires comes from the Celtic language and literally means “turned to the moon”. The village has been populated since Neolithic times. In Roman times, it was located on the “Via Consularis” road joining Milan and Strasbourg. Talloires has been mentioned since the 9th century. The abbey was built in 1016 by King Rodolphe 3rd of Burgundy and was inhabited by the monks of the abbey of Savigny and Lyon. The first monk lived as a hermit from 1033 until 1060 in a cave above Talloires. The current abbey buildings were erected in 1681 and included a hospital and a lazaret in Angon.
The 11th century Priory is today the European Centre of Tufts University of Boston and is used for summer courses and various cultural programmes.
The chemist Claude Louis Berthollet was born in Talloires in 1748 (town hall and library building). He discovered among other things the chemical components of ammoniac and bleach.
The philosopher Taine is buried on the Roc de Chère nature reserve in Menthon Saint Bernard. Talloires’ tourist reputation is largely due to the academic André Theuriet who was a resident here. In 1902, the first colour photograph was taken in the cloister of the Abbey by the physicist Gabriel Lippmann.
Environmental and cultural information…..
Talloires is known locally as the pearl of Lake Annecy. This magical place has been captured by numerous painters like Paul Cezanne, Albert Besnard, Chabas, Mathey and Coppier. Over the years, Talloires has also been visited by many celebrities and heads of states: Empress Eugenie and Napoleon 3rd, the Queen Mother of England, Aga Khan, Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Alphonse de Lamartine, Winston Churchill, Grace Kelly and Prince Reignier of Monaco, Richard Nixon, Jean-Michel Jarre, Johnny Hallyday, Gerard Depardieu, Jean Reno…