Étrembières () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in south-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Geography

Étrembières territory is a land extension of long (5 miles), located at foot of mount

Salève The Salève (), or Mont Salève, is a mountain of the French Prealps located in the department of Haute-Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is also called the "Balcony of Geneva" (French: ''Balcon de Genève''). Geography Geographically, the S ...

, and at banks of Arve River, between Annemasse, Gaillard and Bossey communes. The commune has a population of 1600 inhabitants (2006). The Sàleve mount surges at a steep cliff at west producing an inclination to the Arve's river valley. Sàleve mount is composed of two parts. The great Salève (1318 m.) and the small Salève (902 m.) apart from one of the other by the collar of Monnetier.

History

Prehistory

The region had a

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

occupation revealed by excavations, where upper

Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...

period tools were found, such as

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s, decorated with

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s and

Alpine ibex The Alpine ibex (''Capra ibex''), also known as the steinbock, bouquetin, or simply ibex, is a species of wild goat that lives in the mountains of the European Alps. It is a sexually dimorphic species: males are larger and carry longer, curved h ...

figures.

Ancient history

The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road Genava crossed the Arve river to Etrembières, at the closest area between the banks of the river. A wooden bridge was built to improve the transportation between the two sides; although there is no mention of this bridge in the ancient period, it is mentioned in a 1304 agreement between the Count of Genevois and sire of Faucigny.

Middle Ages

From the 11th to the 15th centuries, Étrembières, and principally its bridge, were a strategic point of control of geneve count, during this time the social life was affected by the frequent battles between with the lords and the vassals of Gex, Mornex and Faucigny.

L'Escalade

After the Calvinist reform in Genovia, an important part of

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

population existed in the small communes of the area. Étrembières is considered a catholic village. After Charles-Emmanuel, the duke of Savoie built the château des Terreaux, in 1602 started a military action to Genève, to recover part of the provinces caused by the signing of Lyon Treaty, in 1601, and to reestablish the Catholicism is the city. The expedition turned into a military disaster that ended with the signing of Saint-Julien treaty in 1603. Genève commemorated the victory with a celebration known as

L'Escalade ''L'Escalade'', or ''Fête de l'Escalade'' (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls), is an annual festival in Geneva, Switzerland, held each December commemorating the defeat of an attempt to conquer the Protestant city-state by the ...

Turin Treaties

After the Turin treaty, in 1754, signed between the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

and the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, Étrembières formed part of Caroug province, governed by the count of Veyrier. The town became again French in 1792 during the Italian campaign of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, ending in the Turin treaty of 1816 that reintegrated Étrembières to

French annexion

On 24 March 1860 by the signing of the Franco-sardinian treaty Savoie was annexed to

, despite Étrembières after a popular plebiscite was favorable to be annexed with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. As many communes finally integrated the

department.

Modern history

In 1875, the plans for building a railway from Annecy to Annemasse were approved, and the following year it was attached to Collonges-Annemasse railway. The joining of this two railways was made at Étrembières. In 1879 a town hall and a school were constructed. In 1891 a

Rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

was built that connected the town to Salève. In 1906 a school was created at l'Échelle pass and in 1922 the village was supplied with electricity. In 1932 the Salève

Aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

was inaugurated for replace the Rack Railway that was decommissioned in 1935. In 1960 the commune restored the Étrembières Chapel. It was reopened on 9 April 1972 despite a new church was built at l'Échelle pass on 30 April 1967.

Demography

Landmarks and monuments

Castle of Étrembières

The Castle of Étrembières was constructed during the 13th century and was inaugurated in the 14th century. In 1328 was owned by a Genoan family, the Compey's. In 1539 the owner of the castle was Marin de Montchenu. In 1589 was used as

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

by the Geonan Troops that invaded Savoie. In 1606 was property of the Annecy hospital. During the 19th century, Daniel Colladon used the castle grounds for test a compressed air drill, used later in the construction of Mont-Cenis tunnel.

Castle des Terreaux

The château des Terreaux, or "Châtillon Castle", was constructed between the 14th century and the 15th century, located behind the Étrembières castle. In 1474 was ceded to Pierre de Châtillon in occasion of his marriage with Marguerite de Gerbais. Without any descendants, the castle was in 1530 owned by Marius d'Arenthon. In 1654 (and not in 1684 like is indicated in wrong versions), was ceded to François-Marie de la Fléchère, that married with Marie-Claudine d'Arenthon, niece of Genoa Prince Jean d'Arenthon. the last owner was Pierre-Claude de la Fléchère, that lived in the castle in 1722. After he abandoned the Terreaux it turned with the passage of time in ruins.

Symond Castle

Constructed after the 14th century, the Symond fortress commanded the access to l'Échelle pass, the roads of Salèvand the access to Monnetier village. In 1304 the castle was the property of the Villette family, vassals of Genoa Counts, Later in 1565 owned by Cluses Marquess, Martin du Fresnoy. In 1722, was acquired by Louis de Portes that sold it again, in 1743, to de la Fléchère family. After the death of Veyrier count, the castle was owned by François Diday that lived in it until 1847, the year in which he sold it to a religious congregation, the "Fidèles Compagnes de Jésus". During this period it was a pension until 1901. With any use in 1917, it was used by the red cross during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, it was used as pension for sons of soldiers defunct during the war, and again was closed in 1932. It was reopened again during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for sons of soldiers. After the end of the war the S.N.C.F was property owner until 1957. In 2003 the facilities were closed for not meeting the security rules. Recently, the castle is under repairs.