Church of Saint Paul en Chablais

The church of Saint-Paul: a former priory, its bulbous steeple is the talk of the town.

The church of Saint-Paul was once part of a Benedictine priory founded around 1200 by the lady of Saint-Paul Isabelle de Bex, with or without her husband Guillaume de Blonay. Built in the 13th century, it housed the remains of this dynasty until the 19th century! The "Maison des Soeurs" on the north side was the monks' dwelling. The priory was abolished in 1792. Two chapels with Gothic frescoes remain. They were painted in the mid-14th century by a workshop of painters from northern Italy. More recently, the Saint-Paul-en-Chablais church tower was destroyed by fire in 1906. At the time, it was bulbous, an architectural feature that has long characterized the landscape of the Haute-Savoie valleys. For a long time, the most ardent defenders of heritage among the local inhabitants had envisaged a reconstruction. Thanks to the work of the association "Un Clocher à Bulbe pour Saint-Paul" and favorable circumstances, the commune rebuilt the bell tower in July 2012!