FRANCE	FRANCE
région: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
département: 74, Haute-Savoie

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Annecy is situated at an elevation of 448 m on the northern tip of Lake Annecy (Lac d'Annecy) in the région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes of southeastern France. Annecy is the capital of the département Haute-Savoie and has a population of about 50,300 (1999).

The region of Annecy was inhabited already in prehistoric times, about 5–6,000 years ago. The Allobrogues were mentioned by Roman hisstorians in the 3rd century BC. After their defeat in 62 BC the region was open to the Roman colonization. It was during that period that a Roman villa called "Anniciaca" owned by a man named "Annicius" was first mentioned. The location of this villa was likely what today is occupied by Annecy-le-Vieux. A document of 1107 confirms the foundation of Annecy-le-Neuf at the river Thiou. Annecy had been part of the County of Geneva. The counts always had been in sharp opposition to the bishops. When the counts were forced to leave Geneva in the 13th century, they moved their residence to Annecy. The last member of the dynasty was antipope Clemens VII who was the first to reside in Avignon. After the family became extinct in 1394 Annecy passed to the House of Savoy in 1401. In 1444 Annecy was set up by the princes of Savoy as the capital of an 'apanage' covering their possessions Genevois, Faucigny and Beaufortain and which existed as such until the 17th century. After the triumph of Calvinism in Geneva, the Catholic bishop moved to Annecy in 1535. Annecy became a center of the Counter-Reformation, which was led by François de Sales (1567–1662) who had become bishop of Annecy in 1602. Annecy even was nick-named the "Rome of the Alps" while Geneva was dubbed the "Calvinist Rome". François de Sales was canonized as a saint of the Catholic church in 1665. During the Napoleonic times Annecy was attached to the département du Mont-Blanc with its capital at Chambéry, but after the restauration it was returned to the House of Savoy. With the incorporation of Savoy into France in 1860 Annecy finally became part of France and became the capital of the new département Haute-Savoie.

The picture on glass no. 1928 [left] shows Lac d'Annecy with the Île des Cygnes ('swan island') and in the background the mountain la Tournette (2,351 m). Lake Annecy (14.6 km long, up to 81 m deep) was formed about 18,000 years ago by the glaciers of the Ice Age.