Chambéry

Chambéry (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɑ̃.be.ʁi]; Arpitan: Chambèri, Italian: Sciamberì) is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.

It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, made the city his seat of power.

Together with other Alpine towns Chambéry engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Chambéry was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2006.

Geography

Chambéry was founded at a crossroads of ancient routes through the Dauphiné (Dôfenâ), Burgundy, Switzerland, and Italy, in a wide valley between the Bauges and the Chartreuse Mountains on the Leysse River. The metropolitan area has more than 125,000 residents, extending from the vineyard slopes of the Combe de Savoie almost to the shores of the Lac du Bourget, the largest natural lake in France. The city is a major railway hub, at the midpoint of the Franco-Italian Lyon Turin Ferroviaire rail link.