The priory of Notre-Dame de Talloires is documented from the 11th century, when it was a dependency of the Benedictine abbey of Savigny. The loss of its archives makes it impossible to know its history in detail. In the 17th century it took the title of abbey. It was suppressed during the Revolution and later became a hotel establishment.
Photo published in Revue de photographie (1893)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Around the year 1018, Rudolph III of Burgundy (c. 970–1032) and his wife Ermengarde († c. 1057) donated the site of Talloires to the Abbey of Saint-Martin de Savigny (Rhône). Another, insufficiently documented tradition mentions that a monastic cell had previously existed at this place, which is associated with Queen Teutberga († 875), the repudiated wife of Lothair II (835–869).
Around the year 1031, probably on the occasion of the consecration of the church, Rudolph himself and especially Ermengarde endowed the priory that had already been established there. That church may have been the reconstruction of an earlier building. The first prior of this house is considered to have been Germain, one of the monks who arrived from Savigny at the time of the foundation. A legend elaborated much later recounts that this prior withdrew as a hermit to a nearby place and came to be regarded as a saint. Pope Paschal II (in 1107) and Calixtus II (in 1123) confirmed the dependency on Savigny, while in 1145 Eugenius III placed the priory under his protection.
The church in ruins. Illustration from 1835
Published in L'abbaye de Talloires (1923)
Old postcard, private collection
After a period of decline, the priory undertook a reform of observance promoted in the 17th century by Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva. This recovery culminated in the granting of the title of abbey by Pope Clement X in 1674. Construction of new monastic buildings then began, after the previous ones had suffered from a fire. The abbey was closed in 1792 during the Revolution; it lost buildings, movable property and its archives, and the church was demolished in 1833. At the end of the 19th century, what remained of the monastery was converted into a hotel, a function it still retains today.
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The priory of Talloires (Haute-Savoie) belongs to the commune of the same name. It is located on the shore of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva