Ambilly is a town in Haute-Savoie, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Its territory of 1.25 km² is the most modest in the department and has another specificity: it is bordered to the south by Annemasse and to the north, it borders Switzerland, the course of the Foron constituting the limit between the two countries.
Ambilly thus belongs to the cross-border agglomeration of Greater Geneva (the Swiss city being less than 10 km to the west).
Now highly urbanized (some 6,300 inhabitants), Ambilly was first occupied in Antiquity by a vast Gallo-Roman villa then, in the Middle Ages, its lands came under the bishopric of Geneva before the small seigneury was tossed about one noble family to another, from Switzerland to Savoy. It was not until the 19th century that the town was definitively integrated into France.
Well served by several communication routes (Leman Express rail network, Annemasse tramway, Grand Genève greenway), dotted with parks, the city deserves a stopover during a stay in the region.
In terms of heritage, a visit to Ambilly may include Clos Babuty, a 19th century Jura tradition villa which belonged to Joseph Babuty, mayor of the city from 1884 to 1924 and which was acquired by the municipality: the logis hosts meetings and conferences, and the park is now dedicated to walks.
Also worth seeing is the church of Saint-François-de-Sales, built in 1941 and then restored in 1971. It succeeded a previous chapel already adjacent to the site where in 1597 the future Saint François de Sales had planted a cross. It should be noted that the church does not have a bell tower (a project in this direction was abandoned).
Another form of heritage, the painting exhibited at the town hall, deposited by the National Contemporary Art Fund: it is a painting by Maurice Boitel representing the port of Ile d'Yeu (1960). Information on +33 5 50 38 05 26.
On the cultural side, the library, which has a pleasant outdoor reading garden, regularly schedules meetings with authors or illustrators, documentary screenings and even concerts. Information on +33 4 50 80 76 72.
For athletes, the Lucien Veyrat complex has a football field and the gymnasium of the same name is suitable for badminton or futsal. Information on +33 5 50 38 05 26.
Many green spaces dot the "small" city. This is the case of the Clos Babuty park, at the back of the villa with wooded space and flowered lawn, of the Jean Beauquis park, a real haven of peace in the historic center, of the Saint-François park, of the Charles Albert square., from the square de la Croix d'Ambilly, on the edge of Annemasse, which houses the cross planted by François de Sales in 1597 or finally from the square Claudius Chavanne in front of the Fraternity school.
For walks or even hikes on a larger scale, we recommend the banks of the Foron to better enjoy the flora and fauna that have recovered a real diversity and of course the greenway of Greater Geneva. It is 12 km long on the French side and extends in Switzerland to Geneva. What to walk or pedal in complete safety in an environment certainly urban but dominated by the massifs which border Lake Geneva.
Maps and information on +33 4 50 95 07 10.