On the edge of the Lake Geneva, this gorgeous medieval town of Yvoire is an unmissable stopping point during the visit. Ramparts, fortified gates and the 14th-century castle keep protect the charming flower-bedecked streets. In the ancient vegetable garden of the castle, the Cinq Sens garden is a wonderful plant maze.
Both sentinel and Lake Geneva jewel Yvoire combines the strength of its medieval heritage the good life of a lakeside city.
This is its strategic location in Lake Geneva prompting Amédée V the Great, Count of Savoy, to fortify the village in 1306, in the heart of the Dauphiné-Savoie conflict; he built the castle on an ancient fortress and surrounding village ramparts. Castle, doors, walls, houses and moat are still present to testify of that time.
For a long time, Yvoire return to anonymity and stronghold proud become a humble village of farmers and fishermen.
The fifties mark the beginning of a new era: that of tourism and flowers. Yvoire receive its first flowering national awards in 1959 and the awards will follow over the years.
In 2002, the village has represented France at the European Competition Bloom and got the International Trophy Landscapers and horticulturists.
Yvoire, part of the prestigious association of the most beautiful villages in France, receives many visitors on sunny days, but also receives the confidential visit for lovers of off-season when the winter wind sing the old walls and the frost lakeshore.
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