Sallanches

Sallanches stands in the Arve valley beneath the mountains of Savoy. Its inhabitants received a charter of liberties from the dauphin of Viennois in 1310, and the town became a centre for the surrounding Alpine country. Its houses and bridges were vulnerable to disaster: a fire in 1520 destroyed much of the town, its church and three wooden bridges. Floods and further fires in 1669 and 1696 brought repeated demands for rebuilding.