Thonon-les-Bains (; frp, Tonon), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie

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 Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is part of a transborder metropolitan area known as Grand Genève. It is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (french: Lac Léman, or simply ).

History

Thonon-les-Bains was the historic capital of Chablais, a province of the old

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...

. The Chablais Savoyard is the portion of Chablais in France. Chablais Valaisan and Chablais Vaudois are those portions of Chablais in the adjacent Switzerland cantons Valais and Vaud.(cite: Chablais Wikipedia) The town was the capital of the Dukedom of Chablais. During the debates on the future of the Duchy of Savoy in 1860, the population was sensitive to the idea of a union of the northern part of the duchy 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 ...

. A petition circulated in this part of the country ( Chablais, Faucigny, Northern Genevois), but it collected no more than 13,600 signatures. The duchy was reunited after a plebiscite organised on 22 and 23 April 1860 under Napoleon III, in which 99.8 percent of the Savoyards voting were reported to have answered "yes" to the question "Does Savoy want to be reunited to France?"

Population

Transport

Thonon-les-Bains station has rail connections to Lyon, Évian-les-Bains, Annemasse and Geneva. Local transport is assured by BUT (Bus urbains thononais). The lines are: * Line A: Destination Grangette / Destination Multiplex * Line B: Destination Z.I VONGY / Destination Place des arts * Line C: Destination Collège Théodore Monod / Place des arts * Line D: Destination Collège theodore Monod or Espace Leman / Place des arts * Line L: Destination Amphion Village / Place des arts * Line P: Destination Marin / Place des arts * Line M: Destination La Chavanne / Place des arts * Line N: Destination Parking des chateaux / Place des arts Map of the network: http://www.leman-but.fr/ftp/FR_plan/Plan%202012%202013.pdf Line H and J are used in Évian-Les-Bains, and not Thonon-Les-Bains.

Main sights

Arboretum de Ripaille The Arboretum de Ripaille (53 hectares) is an arboretum and forest located on the grounds of the Château de Ripaille, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France. It is open daily except Monday, but closed in December. The arboretum is ...

Château des Guillet-Monthoux A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

* Château de Ripaille * Château de Sonnaz * Château de Thuyset * ''Saint-Hippolyte'' church (12th century), rebuilt in Savoy Baroque-style during the 17th century * Funiculaire de Thonon-les-Bains

Twin towns (sister cities)

Thonon-les-Bains is twinned with: * Eberbach, Germany * Mercer Island, United States * Čačak, Serbia

References

External links

Official website

Office of Tourism
Communes of Haute-Savoie Spa towns in France Subprefectures in France Populated places on Lake Geneva {{HauteSavoie-geo-stub