Chamonix

The name Campum munitum, meaning fortified plain or field, had been used as early as 1091. By 1283 the name had been abbreviated to a similar form to the modern Chamonis. Other forms through the ages include Chamouny in 1581, Chamony in 1652, Chamouni in 1786, and the particular spelling Chamonix from 1793. As with many polysyllabic Arpitan anthroponyms, the final -x marks oxytonic stress (on the last syllable), whereas the final -z indicates paroxytonic stress (on the penultimate syllable) and should not be pronounced, although in French it is often mispronounced due to hypercorrection.

The valley was first mentioned in 1091, when it was granted by the Count of the Genevois to the great Benedictine house of St. Michel de la Cluse, near Turin, which by the early 13th century had established a priory there. However, in 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519. In 1530, the inhabitants obtained from the Count of the Genevois the privilege of holding two fairs a year, while the valley was often visited by the civil officials and by the bishops of Geneva (first recorded visit in 1411, while St. Francis de Sales came there in 1606). But travellers for pleasure were very rare. Chamonix was part of the historical land of Savoy and emerged as the feudal territory of the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries. …

The commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc includes 16 villages and hamlets. From north to south: Le Tour 1,462 m (4,797 ft), Montroc, Le Planet, Argentière 1,252 m (4,108 ft), Les Chosalets, Le Lavancher, Les Tines, Les Bois, Les-Praz-de-Chamonix 1,060 m (3,478 ft), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Les Pècles, Les Mouilles, Les Barrats, Les Pélerins, Les Gaillands, and Les Bossons 1,012 m (3,320 ft). Due to its elevation, Chamonix has a humid continental climate (Dfb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with an average annual precipitation of 1,280 mm (50 in). Summers are mild and winters are cold and snowy.

The town of Chamonix is served by French Route Nationale 205 (RN 205), nicknamed the Route blanche, or "white route", due to its snowiness. This is an extension of French autoroute 40 (A40), similarly nicknamed the autoroute blanche, which ends at Le Fayet, a village in the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. The 11.6-km Mont Blanc Tunnel, which opened in 1965, links Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy. Chamonix is linked to Switzerland by what used to be RN 506a. In 2006, it was converted to a Route Départementale 1506, with a part of it integrated into RN 205. The nearest airport to Chamonix is Geneva Airport and it is 88 kilometres (55 miles) away. Chamonix is served by the metre-gauge St Gervais-Vallorcine Line, operated by SNCF. This line from Saint Gervais (on the standard-gauge rail network) to Chamonix opened in 1901; it was extended to Vallorcine in 1908. …

Michel-Gabriel Paccard (1757–1827), a Savoyard doctor and alpinist, citizen of the Kingdom of Sardinia Venance Payot (1826–1902), a naturalist, glaciologist, mountain-guide, scholar, author and twice mayor of Chamonix Edward Whymper (1840–1911), the English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn, died here in 1911 Joseph Vallot (1854–1925), a scientist, astronomer, botanist, geographer, cartographer and alpinist Charles Bozon (1932–1964), an alpine ski racer and bronze medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics