Annecy: A trip through history

Having lived in Annecy for a few months, it felt remiss of me not to visit the interesting historical landmarks of this little town. It helped that on the first Sunday of every month the sites were free. The Chateau d'Annecy dominates the skyline above Annecy, one of my favorite views was sitting at the lake and looking back at the town at sunset, when the Chateau was turned pink by the setting sun, and the mountains on fire behind it. 

The chateau was originally built in the 12th century, but continuously added to until sometime in the 16th, leaving it a patchwork of styles. Once home to the Counts of Genevre, it was eventually abandoned in the 1700s due to a series of fires.

The castle was later restored as a barracks until the mid 1900s where it was bought by the town of Annecy and fully restored. The views from the hill it stands on of the town below are breathtaking. I once again had that 'I'm living in France!' moment when I saw this.

Exploring the castle together with my new friends. 

The castle itself held various museum displays, but my favourite one was this painting showing medieval Annecy - it was stunning to see how little had changed. 

I was greatly amused by this lavatory (the hole went straight down the cliff-side and you could see down far far below) and my friends and I discussed the likelihood of spiders crawling up it.

Our second stop was to the Palais de l'Isle, probably considered the heart of Annecy old town (not to mention the most photographed) built in the 12th century, the island was once the only passage over the river and therefore had a toll attached for those wishing to cross (typically medieval mentalities!)

The island later functioned as a prison, a court house and even a minting house. Later in WWII it was used by the French resistance, and then used for Prisoners of War. The bars on the windows certainly looked immovable. 

The medieval kitchen, adorably quaint and with a view from the window straight down to the canal and the medieval streets of Annecy, it was easy to imagine the bustle of medieval life passing this window by as someone chopped and cooked for the prisoners and guards.