Evian-les-Bains · FR
House Gribaldi, archives and heritage
Tucked into the old quarter of Évian-les-Bains, the Maison Gribaldi is one of the last surviving witnesses of the town that existed before the Belle Époque spa boom transformed the lakefront. A Renaissance house built against the ramparts that once encircled Évian, it takes its name from Vespasien de Gribaldi, the 16th-century archbishop and local dignitary who was a friend of Saint François de Sales. Today the building has been given a second life as the town's heritage house, where Évian's historical and iconographic archives are preserved, digitised and displayed to the public. For visitors it is a compact, atmospheric stop: mullioned stone windows, a timber gallery and a fine internal spiral staircase frame a working archive and a changing programme of temporary exhibitions about the city and its region. Restored and extended in 2013, the house is as much a window onto Évian's past—through photographs, documents and films—as it is an architectural gem in its own right.