Chambéry

Chambéry occupies a broad valley between the Bauges and Chartreuse mountains, where routes through the western Alps converge on the Leysse River. The valley opens north toward Lac du Bourget, while passes connect the Rhône country, Geneva, the Savoyard Alps and the roads to Turin. This position made the town a natural meeting point for merchants, pilgrims, officials and armies crossing the mountains.

Amadeus V acquired its castle in 1295 and made Chambéry the principal residence of the counts of Savoy. Enlarged as a palace, administrative seat and fortress, it became the centre of a scattered Alpine realm. Savoy was raised to a duchy in 1416, and the castle remained the dynasty's political heart until Duke Emmanuel Philibert moved his court to Turin in 1563. Between 1466 and 1578 the ducal chapel also housed the Holy Shroud, drawing pilgrims and reinforcing the town's religious prestige.

Chambéry lost its court but retained administrative and ceremonial importance. Christine Marie, duchess of Savoy, returned to hold court in the castle in 1640, and the marriage of Victor Amadeus II to Anne Marie d'Orléans took place there in 1684. Victor Amadeus III added a royal wing in 1786. Revolutionary France annexed Savoy in 1792; the town returned to the House of Savoy in 1815, preserving the institutions and buildings of its former capital.