Annecy (US:/ˌænəˈsiː,ɑːnˈsiː/AN-ə-SEE, ahn-SEE,^[3][4]French:[an(ə)si]^ⓘ;Arpitan:Èneci, alsoÈnneci) is theprefecture andlargest city of theHaute-Savoiedepartment in theAuvergne-Rhône-Alpesregion of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip ofLake Annecy, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south ofGeneva, Switzerland.

Annecy È(n)neci (Arpitan)
Prefecture andcommune
Clockwise from top:Lake Annecy seen from the Pont des Amours,Château d'Annecy, Passage de l'Île,Haute-Savoieprefecture building
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Annecy
Annecy Show map of France Annecy Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates:45°54′58″N6°07′59″E / 45.916°N 6.133°E /45.916; 6.133
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Haute-Savoie
Arrondissement	Annecy
Canton	Annecy-1,2,Annecy-3 and4
Intercommunality	CA du Grand Annecy
Government
• Mayor(2020–2026)	François Astorg[1]
Area 1	66.94 km2 (25.85 sq mi)
• Urban  (2022)	227.0 km2 (87.6 sq mi)
• Metro	1,199.2 km2 (463.0 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	131,272
• Rank	29th in France
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,100/sq mi)
• Urban  (2022)	184,530
• Urban density	810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
• Metro  (2022)	300,251
• Metro density	250/km2 (650/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Annécien (masculine) Annécienne (feminine)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	74010 /74000
Dialling codes	0450
Elevation	396–1,153 m (1,299–3,783 ft)
Website	www.annecy.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Nicknamed the "Pearl of the French Alps" inRaoul Blanchard's monograph describing its location between lake and mountains, the town controls the northern entrance to the lake gorge. Due to a lack of available building land between the lake and the protectedSemnoz mountain, its population has remained stable, around 50,000 inhabitants, since 1950. However, the 2017 merger with several ex-communes extended the population of the city to 128,199 inhabitants and that of theurban area to 177,622,^[5] placing Annecy seventh in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Switching from thecounts of Geneva's dwelling in the 13th century, to thecounts of Savoy's in the 14th century, the city becameSavoy's capital in 1434 during the Genevois-Nemours prerogative until 1659.^{[citation needed]} Its role increased in 1536, during theCalvinistReformation in Geneva, while the bishop took refuge in Annecy. SaintFrancis de Sales gave Annecy its advanced Catholic citadel role known asCounter-Reformation. Theannexation of Savoy merged the city to France in 1860.

Sometimes called "Venice of the Alps",^{[citation needed]} this idyllic and touristic representation comes from the three canals and theThiou river, which passes through the old city. The city experienced an industrial development in the 19th century with silk manufacturing.^{[citation needed]} Some of its industrial legacy remains today with the headquarters of NTN-SNR bearings,Salomon,Entremont andDassault Aviation.

From the end of the 19th century, Annecy developed tourism around its lake summer facilities, winter resorts proximity and cultural attraction with its castle renovation and fine art museum opening in 1956 and theAnimated Film Festival since 1963, hosted in Bonlieu's cultural centre. The municipal environmental policy managed to keep 40.3% of green spaces,^{[citation needed]} and the city was awarded the "Golden Flower" in 2015, given to the nine most-flowered French cities.

Le vieil Annecy ("Old Annecy"; not to be confused withAnnecy-le-Vieux, formerly a neighboring town but now merged into Annecy), was a settlement from the time of theRomans.^[6] Annecy was the court of thecounts of Geneva^[6] orGenevois from the 10th century.^[7] It passed to thecounts of Savoy in 1401.^[7] In 1444, it became the regional capital of the provinces ofGenevois,Faucigny andBeaufortain.

With the advance ofCalvinism, Annecy became a centre for theCounter-Reformation, the oldBishopric of Geneva being transferred to it in 1535.^[7]Francis of Sales was born in Sales, France in 1567 and served as bishop ofAnnecy from 1602 to 1622;^[7] his relics are preserved in the cathedral.^[6] During theFrench Revolution, the Savoy region was conquered by France. Annecy became attached to thedepartment ofMont Blanc, whose capital wasChambéry.^[8] The Catholic diocese was suppressed in 1801.^[9]

After theBourbon Restoration in 1815, Annecy was returned to theKing of Sardinia and the Catholic diocese restored in 1822.^[10] TheHôtel de Ville (city hall) was completed in 1851.^[11]

When Savoy was annexed to France in 1860 with theTreaty of Turin, it became the capital of the new department ofHaute-Savoie. Annecy was the site of the second round ofGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks in 1949. In 2012, amultiple murder occurred in the Annecy area.^[12]

The new municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger with the former communes ofAnnecy-le-Vieux,Cran-Gevrier,Meythet,Pringy andSeynod.^[13]

Annecy is part of four cantons (Annecy-1,Annecy-2,Annecy-3 andAnnecy-4); it is the prefecture ofHaute-Savoie.

Since 2017, Annecy has consisted of six delegate cities: Annecy; Annecy-le-Vieux; Cran-Gevrier; Meythet; Pringy; and Seynod.Local government consists of acity council with 202 members. The number of members in each commune delegate depends upon its population. The Mayor is Jean-Luc Rigaut (UDI) since 2007.

Theintercommunality of Annecy,Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Annecy, includes 34 municipalities.

TheFier forms part of the commune's northwestern border. The surrounding mountains areMont Veyrier,Mont Semnoz,La Tournette and Parmelan.

Annecy has anoceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) despite its relatively far inland position. Influenced by its elevation, summers are rather moderate on average, although they can be highly variable with extreme heat spikes. Winters see occasional freezing temperatures, but temperatures most often stay in the single-digits during the daytime with frequent cold rain.Air frosts are normal during the night and snowfall is not uncommon.

Annecy has hosted theAnnecy International Animated Film Festival since 1960 and the Rencontres Internationales d'Annecy Cinéma & Architecture since 1999 and it was one of the oldest festivals in France.

On 23 July 2009, Annecy played host to Stage 18 of theTour de France, as the start/finish point for an individual time trial aroundLake Annecy. It was also the start town for stage 10 of the2018 Tour de France on 17 July 2018.

Annecy launched abid to host the2018 Winter Olympics but lost toPyeongchang.^[15] If they had been chosen, Annecy would have been the fourth French city to host the Winter Olympic Games, afterChamonix (1924),Grenoble (1968), andAlbertville (1992).

Ligue 1 former teamÉvian Thonon Gaillard F.C. played their home matches in Annecy. The club was founded in 2007, they grew up to reach Ligue 1, and stayed for four years in the division, thanks to their emblematic trainerPascal Dupraz.

The Annecy basin is one of the world's leading locations for the sport ofparagliding, an activity of some economic importance to the region.^[16] The area regularly hosts major competitions, most recently a leg of the Paragliding World Cup in 2012.^[17] Due to its proximity with the lake and the mountains, Annecy is also popular for watersports (sailing, rowing, wakeboarding, water skiing) and wintersports (alpine skiing, snowboarding, Nordic skiing). Le Semnoz, a relatively small ski resort is 35 minutes away from Annecy. Other bigger ski resorts, La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand, are only 40 minutes away. Annecy is also very popular among trail runners and many races are organized year round, such as the World Trail Running Championships in 2015.^[18]

• The Palais de l'Isle is a 12th-century castle on an island in the riverThiou in Annecy's administrative headquarters. It mostly served as a prison and courthouse until theFrench Revolution. It again was a prison during World War II. The Palais de l'Isle was classified as aHistorical Monument in 1900, and today houses a local history museum.
• TheChâteau d'Annecy (Annecy Castle) was the home of theCounts of Geneva and theDukes of Genevois-Nemours, an offshoot
• The 15th centuryÉglise Saint-Maurice

• Université Savoie Mont Blanc
• Polytech'Savoie

• LAPP Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules specialized in Physics
• LISTIC The Computer Science, Systems, Information and Knowledge Processing Laboratory
• Mecatronics department ofCETIM
• Different R&D activities in the Université de Savoie and its École Polytechnique d'Ingenieurs: Polytech'Savoie.

In the 19th century, the primary manufactures werelinen andcotton goods,glass,cutlery,earthenware, andleather.^[6] The area also carried on linen bleaching andiron mining.^[6] By theFirst World War, it was connected by rail toAix-les-Bains and there were factories for linen and cotton goods,felt hats, andpaper, as well as a "celebrated"bell foundry at Annecy-le-Vieux.^[7]

Companies located in and around Annecy include:

• Salomon Group
• adixen Vacuum Products
• Sopra Group
• Ubisoft Annecy

TheGare d'Annecy railway station offers connections with Lyon, Geneva, Paris, Grenoble and several regional destinations.

Annecy – Haute-Savoie – Mont Blanc Airport currently used for private air transport only.

Annecy istwinned with:^[22]

•  Bayreuth, Germany
•  Cheltenham, England, United Kingdom
•  Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia
•  Sainte-Thérèse, Canada
•  Vicenza, Italy

Together with other Alpine towns Annecy engages in theAlpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Annecy was alsoAlpine Town of the Year 2012.

• Bernard Accoyer (born 1945), politician,President of the National Assembly 2007 to 2012 and Mayor ofAnnecy-le-Vieux.
• Bernard Bosson (1948–2017), politician, Govt. minister & Mayor of Annecy
• Jules Bouyer (born 2002), diver
• Eustace Chapuys (c. 1490–1556),Imperial ambassador to the English Court ofHenry VIII
• Francis de Sales (1567–1622), bishop of Geneva / Annecy and Catholic Saint.^[23]
• André Dussollier (born 1946), actor
• Emmanuel Leducq-Barôme (born 1971), conductor, works in Russia
• Bernard Miège (born 1941), a media theorist and academic administrator.
• Guillaume Perret (born 1980), jazz musician and composer
• Emmanuel Tarpin (born 1992), contemporary jewelry designer
• Cécile Vogt-Mugnier (1875–1962), brain researcher

• Louis Lachenal (1921–1955), alpinist, one of the first two mountaineers to climb a summit of more than 8,000 meters.
• Bernard Collomb (1930–2011), racing driver
• Vincent Vittoz (born 1975), cross-country skier
• Johan Clarey (born 1981), alpine skier, silver medallist at the2022 Winter Olympics
• Thomas Fanara (born 1981), alpine skier, competed in three Winter Olympics
• David Poisson (born 1982), alpine skier, competed in two Winter Olympics
• Steve Missillier (born 1984) alpine skier, silver medallist at the2014 Winter Olympics
• Jonathan Midol (born 1988), freestyle skier, bronze medallist at the2014 Winter Olympics
• Christophe Lemaitre (born 1990), sprinter, bronze medallist at the2016 Summer Olympics
• Côme Ledogar (born 1991), racing driver
• Axelle Mollaret (born 1992), physiotherapist, skyrunner and ski mountaineer
• Hugo Lapalus (born 1998), cross-country skier, team bronze medallist at the2022 Winter Olympics
• Sacha Fenestraz (born 1999), French-Argentine racing driver
• Loana Lecomte (born 1999), cross-country mountain bike cyclist
• Sébastien Baud (born 2000), racing driver

• Jane Frances de Chantal (1572–1641), Holy of the Catholic Church, founded in Annecy theOrder of Salesian Sisters
• Jean Coppier, of theCoppier family, notary in Annecy in 1396.^[24]
• Claude Favre de Vaugelas (1585–1650), man of letters, philologist and grammarian.^[25]
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), writer and philosopher, spent some time in Annecy.^[26]
• Claude Louis Berthollet (1748–1822), physician and chemist, began medical studies locally in 1760.^[27]
• Eugène Sue (1804–1857), writer, spent his last years in exile in Annecy and died there.^[28]

•  
  Annecy, the "Venice of the Alps"
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  Palais de l'Isle jail
•  
  Houses along theThiou river
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  Restaurants along the Thiou river
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  Thiou river
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  Thiou river
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  Palais de l'Isle jail by night
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  Annecy Château
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  View of the Canal
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  Lake Annecy from the south dock of Annecy
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  Church of St. Francis
•  
  Imperial Hotel

• Geneva Canton
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Annecy
• Arpitan language –Franco-Provençal language
• Arpitania

• Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878),"Annecy" ,Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 64
• Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911),"Annecy" , inChisholm, Hugh (ed.),Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 72

• Annecy town website(in French)