4 Iconic Buildings to explore in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes administrative region covers an area of 69 711 km2 in the centre and east of the south of France. It is a collection of regions of diverse topographies, climates, natural resources, cultures, folklore, architecture, and languages.
The Château d'Annecy is a restored castle that dominates the old French town of Annecy in the Haute-Savoie département. It was bought by the town, restored and transformed into a museum, le musée-château d'Annecy. The castle is listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1959. There is an important collection of vernacular furniture, dating from the 15th century onwards, sculpted objects, photographs and models of Alpine chalets.
The largest pedestrianized square in Europe, Place Bellecour is a famous UNESCO World Heritage Site that spans 15 acres and is characterized by its distinctive reddish sand. It was the sight of royal parades for the king and executions via the guillotine during the French Revolution. Although the square isn’t too spectacular in the daytime, give it another try in the evening when the Ferris wheel lights up in a display of vibrant colors.
The Terreaux square is a square located in the 1 st district of Lyon, on the peninsula between the Rhône and the Saône, at the foot of the hill of the Croix-Rousse. It has an area of 7000 m². Installed around 1625 on the old ditches of the Lanterne fortifications, it was used as a place of capital execution and as a pig market.
The Goûter Hut is a mountain refuge in the French department of Haute-Savoie. It is located at a height of 3,835 metres on the Arete du Goûter in the municipality of Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains. It overlooks the Glacier de Bionnassay and is the highest wardened mountain hut in France.