Monuments to visit Rhônes-Alpes

Around Chazelles, you can still see the chimneys of the old chapelleries boiler. Indeed, Chazelles counted more than 30 artisan or industrial chapelleries that can be discovered in the city. For example, in Martouret Street, the now disused Fléchet factory will be found. This company, operating from 1859 to 1976, was one of the largest in the city and exported its production worldwide. Towards the Rue de la Liberté, the passage of the White Hat takes its name from an headgear that manufactured only white felt cones… As for St. Galmier's Highway No. 16, former headgear Blanchard today hosts the Workshop-Musée du Chapeau.

the cooler is a curious th century building used to store the natural ice necessary for the supply of the Château castle. Recently restored, it is in the form of a three-quarter egg-shaped tank, which is buried by two opposing corridors (loading and unloading), all covered in glazed tiles.

It allows you to follow the evolution of these monuments, from the th century to the present. You can find them in the publication of the Rhône Department «Les Croix en Pays Mornantais».

Image of the village, it is the only remaining part of the entrance of the fortifications built in the th and th centuries.

Here you will discover a charming Renaissance inner courtyard, where a turret in saillie commands galleries with arcades in full hanger.

Here we will have to look at the facades, but they are worth it! One is Gothic style, the other of Renaissance style, and it has a comparative illustration of the two styles dominating Villefranche.

A beautiful cut-off tower houses a monumental fireplace, 4,20 m long and 1,20 m deep.

We admire the beautiful inner courtyard and its sculpted rods.

Rare example of a perfectly preserved courtyard, with its cut-off turret and gallery without arcades.

In Saint-Maximin, a thirty-three meter tower erected in 1895 on the ruins of an old medieval castle, by the Carthusian monks in honor of Saint Hugues d'Avalon, Carthusian and bishop of Lincoln at the end of the ^12th century, where documents on ancient rural life are presented. Exhibition of paintings and sculptures. Visit to the chapel of the Tower of Avalon. Panoramic view on the Grésivaudan valley from the top.

First, the castle of Roche-la-Molière was a 12th century fortress. Modified in the 15th century and then in the 18th century, it is one of the rare medieval remains of the southern Loire. Surrounded by a magnificent garden, the castle opens its doors to you for a visit among its towers, curtains, machicolation... 13th century kitchen with a very rare set of 3 ovens, 17th century vaults decorated with coats of arms, 18th century salons and Kabyle lounge, chapel decorated with paintings... a great historical interest. Temporary exhibitions are regularly organized.

This splendid building, which combines the Gothic style with the Renaissance style, has successively undergone different functions: property of the Dukes of Bourbons until 1527, the princely residence, and then the hotel, lodging of stage for officers and post office in the service of the King, Maréchaussée brigade in 1737, presbytery under the Second Empire. It served as a welcome to prestigious guests. Here you can admire a splendid and imposing roof as well as a remarkable structure (renversée boat). Inside, many coated graffiti and frescos adorn thick walls. The Renaissance entrance door is surmounted by a sculpted shell where two angels have a stone coat, damaged by revolution. Legend wants them not to be destroyed in the revolution because "without panties". During the season you can visit the Petit Louvre but also enjoy various temporary exhibitions (paintings, sculptures).

The first monks settled in Apple in 834. In 960 they passed under the administration of Cluny. The first church is then abandoned in favour of a new Romanesque building, now Parish Church Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul. In the th century, the priory changed the strong house and endowed it with a Renaissance facade. After the Revolution of large bourgeois families buy the places and turn them into a residential castle. In 1990 the general council became owner, supported the restoration to open it to the public. Many temporary exhibitions offer the beauty of the places!

Always sheltered by its water ditches, this castle fully restored on 15 acres, accessed via a drawbridge, is dominated by a squat and impressive keep. The interior is up, with an interesting decoration and architecture.

It is a tunnel closely monitored since the 1999 disaster - reassuring, therefore - and long 11,6 kilometres, between Chamonix and Courmayeur. Only the width of the tube, which could not be changed, still seems too narrow for the eternal claustrophobes. But for all the rest, what improvements: better lighting and overhaul of the ventilation system, a 100-metre drive, a mid-term rescue station, a combination of French and Italian control rooms and, above all, the construction of an independent evacuation gallery under the road. More fun, the tail of vehicles at the counter: you will have the impression of taking the start of a ski competition, with front of you the small barrier that displays on screen the time allotted before your departure. 10, 9, 8, 7… When it rises, you can start up to the limit speed of 70 km/h and with a spacing of 150 metres between each vehicle, which now seems very well respected. The reason? The multiplication of surveillance cameras, such as tickets.

It was here that the poet-novelist composed her famous poem Paradis à Amphion. On the shores of Lake Geneva, the small pink stone temple houses a central column bearing a golden urn in its rotunda. It contains the heart of Anna de Noailles. It is engraved with a quatrain composed by the poetess and destined for her sepulchral temple. The votive monument, signed by the architect Jose Emilio Terry, was erected in the garden of the Villa Bassara where she stayed for the last time in 1916.