Thonon-les-Bains

▪ France

      town, Haute-Savoie département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeastern France. It sits on a lacustrine terrace overlooking the southern shore of Lake Geneva near the mouth of the Dranse River, about 19 miles (30 km) from Geneva, Switz. Thonon-les-Bains was the capital of the historical district of Chablais.

      The site was occupied by the Romans and later by the Burgundians, and during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century it was fought over by the Bernese and the Duke of Savoy. In the Place du Château, site of a fortified château built by the dukes of Savoy and destroyed by the French in 1589, is a statue of Gen. Joseph-Marie Dessaix, who organized and led a Savoyard military unit during the Revolution. The church of Saint-Hippolyte, decorated in 17th-century style, has a 12th-century crypt and a 13th-century font embellished with the arms of the House of Savoy. Attached to it is a modern, neo-Gothic basilica dedicated to St. Francis of Sales, who conducted missionary work in the vicinity and was responsible for the renunciation of Protestantism by the inhabitants of Chablais at the end of the 16th century. A museum in the Château de Sonnaz contains exhibits devoted to the prehistoric Lake Dwellers, as well as a hydrological model of Lake Geneva.

      Thonon-les-Bains, which developed as a spa town, is now a popular summer resort, benefiting from its lakeside location and its proximity to the northern Alps. A funicular railway runs from the lakeshore to the town. It is also an administrative and commercial centre for the Chablais region and has a number of light industries. Many residents of Thonon-les-Bains commute to Geneva. Pop. (1999) 28,927; (2005 est.) 30,700.

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