Chateau de Savoie

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Yesterday a few of us played the tourist game. The castle of the Dukes of Savoie is absolutely amazing!!! Not only is this area known for great music, BEAUTIFUL mountain views, and fine white wine, Savoie has a very rich history. Savoie was apparently the last city-state to be annexed into France (circa 1850s) and the people here are very proud of thier rich history. This region was once it's own country- NOT italian, NOT FRENCH, but Savoisian (US spelling hard to covert to -en francais c'est Savoisienne) Napolean worked his ways and joined the Savoie people into the country that is now france, so voila.

Our tour guide was very amusing- she did the tour in french- which I understood!!!!- and would toss a very brief and sarcastic translation of what she was speaking in english every now and then. So basically there was lots of political intermarrying between european countries, wars, allies made and broken, massive destruction and reconstruction, revolutions, and all the fun things that one cannot completely comprehend in one's high school history class. The result of these events is the Chateau de Savoie. This castle has several different distinct architectural styles visable to tourists. The oldest part of the Chateau is the bell tower dating back to the 13th century. (The tour guide pointed out at this moment in the tour that the americans do not have any 13th century monuments in our country- and what a young country we were, etc. ) Close to the tower are several halls with old baroque brick windows, a HUGE area that was added on in the 16th century that was early Gothic (and very beautiful- Emily is fascinated by Gothic Architecture) and a treasury tower that is 17th century.

The room that I found to be the most interesting however, was the room that was a chapel addition in the mid 1700's. Inside this room were the most detailed original stain glass windows that I have ever witnessed. (The have not been restored and are in great condition). Apparently the Chateau of Savoie also used to house the relic of the Holy Shroud. Myself not being Catholic, had no idea of this until yesterday (I do however know the significance of the shroud and know that it is presently held in Turin, Italy- 2 hours away). Displayed here they have the first original photograph of the shroud. C'est tres cool- as they say around here.

Later in the day we had a gathering of the ISEP students at "Le Hooligans," a cute little pub. Terrick- the student coordinator with ISEP Savoie- is Tunesian, and loves to party. He's making it his personal mission of showing us life for a 20 something in Chambery. As this is a small town about the size of Maryville, he says it is "very boring." However, the nightlife compared to Maryville is very different, well leave it at that.

Enjoy the pics-

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Photos

Chateau de Savoie
This is the entrance seen from the city street. Not bad to walk by on the way to the bakery every morning

Beautiful Gothic Windows
These exemplify the beauty of the 16th century addition- the inside ceiling was breathtaking

Stained Glass Windows
These windows depict different Biblical scenes and are very typical for art of the era- also about 80 ft high

Holy Shroud
This is the first known photo to be taken of the Holy Shroud, which was stored at the Chateau de Savoie until it was moved to Turin, Italy where it remains today.

Terrick and Marie
Terrick is our student director who is also our personal entertainment guide. He's with Marie, an American at the party @ Hooligan's

Tennesseans
Maryville, Rhodes, and UTK kids having a good time

Comments

[Sprocolate]

Wow dude
Those pictures are amazing, and I had no idea that they were a separate people! That's so crazy! What a tiny country they must've been!

[NancyZimmerman]

GothicArchitecture
There are many beautiful churches in Covington and our cathedral is modeled from Notre Dame in Paris. I'll take you on a tour sometime, but I'm sure I won't be as much fun as Terrick.

[elisabeth lanois]

bonjour
Dear Emily, Your travels sound wonderful so far. What a beautiful region! Thanks for the photographs of the chateau. What are your classes like? Are you able to speak French on a regular basis? I know you hear it!!! I am so proud of you for making it there. Amusez-vous bien! Professeur Lanois