294 inhabitants (known as "Meillerons")
Surface area: 3.91 km²
Altitude: 372 to 1,000 metres

Meillerie is a village of fishermen and boatmen, overlooking the lake with a view of the "Vaud Riviera". For many, many years, its quarries have provided stones for the building of Lake Léman's towns. After changing hands countless times over the centuries and from one war to the next, Meillerie, like the other towns of Chablais, eventually fell under the control of the House of Savoy.

The village long bustled with the work of the stone quarries and the boats transporting their cargos of stones, to build the towns and castles ringing the lake. Meillerie's 200-metre-high rocks once descended all the way to the water's edge. The surrounding landscape has been considerably altered by the quarries. The traditional lateen sailboats that once crisscrossed the lake disappeared a half-century ago.

A Léman-style sailboat, christened "La Neptune ", was recently rebuilt by a Swiss association. A similar craft, "La Savoie ", was reconstructed on the French side of the lake. The village, the sheer rock faces and the surrounding chestnut groves made up a charming landscape that was painted by Calam and whose praises were sung by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Julie, or the New Heloise, as well as by Byron and Lamartine.

To visit

Heritage
The old port, from which the lateen sailboats carried the famous Meillerie stones all the way to Geneva.
"Jean-Jacques Rousseau Rock".
Church and presbytery of the old priory and its surroundings.
13th-century chancel and bell tower.

Activities
"Chemin des Bacounis" hiking trail.
Marina.

Practical information

Meillerie Town Hall
20 rue Nationale
74500 Meillerie
Tel: +33 (0)4 50 76 04 30 / Fax: +33 (0)4 50 76 00 54