Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré (; ) is a commune in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

department in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of south-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is part of the Canton of La Ravoire in the Arrondissement of Chambéry and included in the

Grand Chambéry Grand Chambéry is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Chambéry. It is located in the Savoie department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southeastern France. It was created in January 20 ...

agglomeration community An agglomeration community (, ) is a consortium of communes (municipalities) in France, created as a government structure by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of four forms of intercommunality, less integrated than a or a communauté ur ...

(previously ''Chambéry Métropole - Cœur des Bauges'').

Geography

Location

Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré is located less than ten kilometres (about six miles) southeast of the city of

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and northeast of the city of

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

(as the crow flies). Neighboring municipalities of the commune are Challes-les-Eaux and Curienne to the north,

Chignin Chignin (; ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The village of Chignin is located between the communes of Les Marches, Montmélian, Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré and Challes-les-Eaux, b ...

to the east, and Myans to the south and west. Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré and its neighboring municipalities together form the outer suburb of Chambéry

Topography

Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré has an area of and extends into the southwest edge of the

Bauges The Bauges Mountains (, ) are a mountain range in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Eastern France, stretching from the city of Annecy, Haute-Savoie to the city of Chambéry, Savoie, which is part of the French Prealps. Major peaks The Bauges have fourt ...

, a limestone

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

in the northern

French Prealps The French Prealps ( ); are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line running from Chamo ...

. The main part of the municipality is situated in the ''Cluse de Chambéry'', the

glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

which separates the Bauges and the

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue as the Bauges to the north and ...

. The administrative centre is located on the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

, at less than above sea level. The lowest point sits at , the level of the cluse. In the eastern part of the commune, a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

called the ''Trouée des Marches'' ('Gap of the Marches') allows connection by road to the municipalities located there. Elevation extends over above sea level in this area and reaches at the height of the massif. The commune does not contain any significant bodies of water, aside from streams and rivulets.

Land use

Over half of the land in Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré (57.9%) comprises agricultural areas, with an additional 22.3% classified as hardwood forests. Vineyards (10.3%) and discontinuous urban areas (9.5%) account for the remaining land. In addition to the village center on the valley floor, Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré also includes the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of ''La Boisserette'' (440 m; 1,440 ft) in a

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

in the foothills of the Bauges.

History

The first documented reference to a settlement in what is now Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré can be traced to around 1100 CE, under the Latin name ''Ecclesia Sancti Georgii'' (; 'Parish of Saint George'). In 1110 CE, Bishop Hugues de Grenoble founded a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine at ''Saint-Georges'', to which the churches and parishes of ''Saint-Georges'', ''Saint Pierre'' in Chignin, ''Saint Vincent'' in Triviers (today Challes-les-Eaux), ''Saint Jean-Baptiste'' in Barby and ''Saint Maurice'' in Curienne were initially assigned. Two centuries later, the variant ''Jeoire'', latinized ''Jourius'', was popularized in the

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

regains and was adopted as the standard name used by the priory''.'' In the following centuries, four more parishes were added. The priory was one of the first to be integrated into the ''Sainte Maison de Thonon'' in 1599, an instrument of

counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

in the

Chablais The Chablais (; ; ) was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains. The Chablais was elevated to a duchy in 1311 by Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. This region is currently divided into three territories, the '' Chablais s ...

created by

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

. The place name ''Prieuré'' was added to the commune name in 1901. The priory church of ''Saint-Georges du Prieuré'' is the only construct of the former priory still standing. The church was built during the last quarter of the 14th century into the 15th century, replacing the original Romanesque church from 1110 CE. Two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

from the original church were reused in the later building. The church and its inventory were designated as

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

in 1956, recognizing its importance to the architectural, historical, and cultural heritage of France.

References

External links

Official website of Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:SaintJeoirePrieure Communes of Savoie Savoie communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia