An area  of strategic importance

Because it has retained its cultural identity throughout the ages, the district of Faucigny  now marks the recognised perimeter of the Development Contract with its 29 communes and almost 82,000 inhabitants. The district of Faucigny comprises two geographically identifiable and complementary entities : the Upper Valley of the Giffre and the  Arve Valley.

The Arve is a river which has its source  in the Mont Blanc chain. It has cut out a valley which narrows as it flows through a tranverse valley (in French “cluse” ), to widen again in the Cluses and Bonneville basin. It is met at Marignier by the valley of the Giffre, which has its source in the Fer à Cheval massif and flows round the Massif du Chevrier before plunging into the Arve. From Bonneville and Saint Pierre en Faucigny the valley opens out considerably as far as Annemasse.

The Mid-Arve Valley: Technic Valley

Premier industrial basin of Haute-Savoie, the Arve Valley has generated a  driving economic and demographic dynamism since the beginning of the century  in the département of Haute-Savoie and the Rhône-Alpes Région. It is characterised by an urban and industrial development over about thirty kilometres between the two conurbations of Cluses and Bonneville as far as the canton of La Roche-sur-Foron.

Around these two poles gravitate  communes, placed around towns or in rural or medium mountain  situations .They are both urbanised residential centres and centres of industrial and agricultural activity. The villages overlooking the valley are especially known for their leisure and tourist activities (skiing, hiking, running water sports…..)
www.villagesdufaucigny.com