Abbey of Sainte-Catherine-du-Mont in Annecy
The Abbey of Sainte-Catherine-du-Mont was a Benedictine monastery near Annecy in Haute-Savoie, France. It was founded in the 12th or 13th century in a quiet valley on the slopes of the Semnoz, called the Sainte-Catherine valley. The abbey was closed in 1772 and the nuns moved to a convent in Annecy’s center. Today the former convent is in ruins, lying in a hollow about 3.5 kilometers from central Annecy and 630 meters above sea level. The nearby path is still known as the Chemin de Sainte-Catherine.
Tradition links the foundation to Margaret of Geneva (Beatrix), daughter of William I of Geneva, though the exact founding date is uncertain—dates such as 1179 or 1228 are often cited. Some scholars believe the abbey existed before 1195, and that Marguerite helped raise it to abbey status. The first nuns are thought to have come from the Abbey of Bonlieu, about twenty kilometers to the northwest.
The portico of Sainte-Catherine-du-Mont is believed to have housed the tomb of Count William I of Geneva, who died in 1195. In 1242 the nuns sought independence from Bonlieu; after mediation, the abbey gained independence in exchange for paying rent.
The abbey prospered and established two daughter houses near Lake Geneva: Bellerive (now Collonge-Bellerive, Switzerland) and Petit-Lieu (Perrignier). In 1607, Louise de Ballon took her vows at the abbey at age sixteen, having lived there since age seven with a sister. She later left in 1622 to pursue a stricter reform and, with Bishop François de Sales, founded the Order of the Reformed Bernardines, spreading the new order to Rumilly and across Savoy and southeastern France.
Even after Louise’s departure, the abbey kept many customs, such as owning property and not being fully enclosed, while a renewed religious fervor grew. In 1772 the abbey moved to the city center of Annecy, occupying the Bonlieu site since 1648 (near today’s Pâquier and cultural center). A faience factory was started in the former abbey by Jean-Claude Burnod, a lawyer and local figure in Annecy.
The site was traditionally the burial place for princes of the House of Geneva, a role shared with the Charterhouse of Pomier. It is believed to have housed the tombs of the Counts of Geneva and other family members. The abbey was governed by a prioress from 1179 to 1250, then by an abbess from 1251 to 1793. In 1770, Marie-Françoise Duboin was the prioress until the abbey’s dissolution during the French Revolutionary occupation.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 02:30 (CET).