Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Chamonix is a French commune in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Geography

It is located at the foot of Mont Blanc.

History

Horace-Bénédict of Saussure and Jacques Balmat (left) look to the top of the Mont Blanc, monument in Chamonix.

The valley was first mentioned in 1091, when it was granted by the Count de la Genevois to the great Benedictine house of Sacra di San Michele, near Turin, which in the early 13th century had established a priory there. However, in 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519.^{[citation needed]}

In 1530, the inhabitants obtained from the Count de la Genevois the privilege of holding two fairs a year, while the valley was often visited by civil servants and by the bishops of Geneva (visit first recorded in 1411, while Saint Francis de Sales arrived there in 1606). But leisure travelers were very rare.^{[citation needed]}

Chamonix Valley: crossing the glacier on foot (between 1902 and 1904)

The first published part (1744) was an account of their visit by Dr. Richard Pococke, Mr. William Windham and others, such as the English who visited the Mer de Glace in 1741. In 1742 P. Martel and various others arrived Genevese; in 1760, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, and later, Marc-Théodore Bourrit.^{[citation needed]}

The growth of tourism in the 19th century led to the formation of the Compañía de Guías de Chamonix in 1821, to regulate access to the slopes of the mountain (which were in common or in cooperatively owned), and this association held the monopoly of the city guide until it was broken by French government action in 1892; thereafter, guides are required to hold a title issued by a commission dominated by civilian French Alpine Club officials and members rather than local residents.^{[citation needed]}

From the late 19th century onwards, tourism development was dominated by national and international initiatives rather than the local entrepreneurs, although the local community was increasingly dependent on and active in the tourism industry.^{[citation needed]}

The commune successfully lobbied to change its name from Chamonix to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in 1916. Following the loss of its monopoly, however, the Company reformed as an association of local guides, retaining an important role in the local society; it provided the services of a friendly societarism for its members, and in the XX century many of them were noted mountaineers and popularizers of mountain tourism, for example, the novelist Roger Frison-Roche, the first member of the Compagnie not to have been born in Chamonix.^{[citation required]}

The holding of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924 further raised the profile of Chamonix as an international tourist destination.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, a Children's Home operated in Chamonix, in which several dozen Jewish children were hidden from the Nazis. Some of their saviors were recognized as 'Righteous Among the Nations'.

By the 1960s, agriculture had been reduced to a marginal activity, while the number of available tourist beds increased to around 60,000 by the end of the century XX, with about 5 million visitors a year.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Chamonix Valley

Chamonix

• Altitude: 1100 meters.
• Latitude: 45o 55' N
• Length: 006o 52' E

Demographics

Sports

It is a winter sports center. The 1924 Winter Olympics were held here. On January 8 and 9, 2005, the Alpine Ski World Cup was held, Le Kandahar. Also, in the main city to climb Mont Blanc, Aiguille du Midi or Aiguille du Dru.

Predecessor: -

Olympic City 1924

Successor: Sankt Moritz

Miscellaneous

The valley is mentioned in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in an encounter scene between the doctor and his monster. The 1965 Spanish-French film Whiskey and Vodka takes place in this city.

In addition, this is the headquarters for the delivery of the Piolet de oro, a trophy given to the best mountaineers in the world. The awards have been given since 1991 and the juries are from French mountaineering magazines such as "Montagnes" or "Haute Montagne".