THE LAKE
The discovery of Lake Annecy is a passport for health and vitality as well as serenity and relaxation.
It's first of all admiring an exceptional landscape made of blue, green and white, clear water, forests and snow.
The panorama of the lake and the surrounding mountains is soft, not sharp, but nevertheless full of alpine character: the lake is located at 447 metres high, but it is overlooked at the highest point by the Tournette Mountain, a stunning summit shaped like an armchair at 2351 metres high.
Here you are in union with the reigning nature because for over 40 years the main focus has been "respect and protection".
But these protected spaces are also accessible for discovery and wonder, to reach a reasonable harmony between the landscape, the inhabitants and the visitors.
From the nineteenth century tourists from many countries have come to this universe that is now known all over the world.
They are attracted by the unique beauty of the site and by the quality of the efforts made to save the lake and its surroundings from any irreversible pollution.
LAKE ANNECY, A PROTECTED AREA FOR OUR CHILDREN
The efforts made since 1957 (creation of the SILA, Intercity Syndicate for Lake Annecy) to restore the quality of water, have granted Annecy international acknowledgement and numerous awards.
In 1957, the words "Ecology" and "Environment" did not exist yet, but the successful operations to save the lake, initiated by visionaries from Annecy, with Doctor Paul Servettaz and Senator-mayor Charles Bosson at their head, have been popularized through the mass media since the first results and are still popular nowadays.
This acknowledgement and the regular visits from international experts, who come to get information about this collective project, allow the inhabitants around the lake to feel some pride because they have supported these efforts to clean up the lake and have agreed and financed the huge works needed to guarantee the future.
The young generations now have all the information about precautions and respectful attitudes to adopt.
Tourism has immediately been placed in this protection prospect : the slogans "Annecy Pure Lake" and "Lake Annecy, Oxygen directly from the Spring" where meant to draw the attention of visitors on these protection efforts and all he actors of tourism participate in the information about this "example to be followed".
It is in the nature of things that the candidacy of Lake Annecy to belong to UNESCO's World Heritage has been introduced in 2008 by the SILA, representing all the towns surrounding the lake, as a "natural and cultural site".
PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE LAKE:
Surface area: 27 km² - Length: 14,6 km - Width: 0,8 to 3,2 km
Height: 446,97 m - Average depth: 41 m - Maximum depth: 80 m
Volume: 1 124 500 000 m3
