One hundred years of history
Evian, a history of water
In 1789, while the town of Evian is still part of the Duchy of Savoy, the Marquis de Lessert, Auvergne gentleman suffering from kidney stones, just take the waters in Amphion. During a trip to Evian, he quenches his thirst with water from a spring that flows into the garden of a certain Monsieur Cachat. The ruling "very slight and bandwidth," he decides to drink regularly ... And he was soon cured. He then extols the virtues of this water "miraculous" about him and the doctors are quick to approve and prescribe consumption. Success was quick and M. Cachat to enclose its source and to sell water. Thus began the saga of Evian mineral water.
The Belle Époque and the golden age of spas
The spa will take its real growth until the Second Empire after the annexation of Savoy to France in 1860. With the creation of port and dock planning, and construction of the station and follow the track of Annemasse, the city renamed Evian-les-Bains in 1864, will become a resort fashionable, popular with an aristocratic clientele and international. At the turn of the century under the impetus of the water company Evian, a vast improvement scheme is launched: a spa is constructed of luxurious palaces and luxurious villas are emerging.
Distractions are not far behind, and to satisfy the wealthy clientele, all kinds of entertainment are organized concerts and shows, games, water festivals, fireworks ...
The Royal Golf Club was inaugurated in 1904, the Hotel Royal, which was regarded as the finest hotel in Europe, will open its doors in 1909, designed by architect Jean-Albert Hebrard, who also realized the bar of the source Cachat In 1903, a masterpiece of Art Nouveau, and the new Casino in 1912.
The heyday of Evian will last until the 30. The city will host famous personalities of politics and art: Marcel Proust, Maurice Barres, Frederic Mistral or Jean Cocteau have stayed.
The Roaring Twenties and time of the tourism
The 20s were a good period for tourism Savoy, all the hotels were raided. But a new clientele emerged, more oriented toward sports and the virtues of bathing in the invigorating waters of Lake Geneva, previously little appreciated by the worldly clientele. The luxury of time coming to an end, while the construction of hotels resumed.
It was then that the former boarding house that inspired Great bank since the beginning of the century, was transformed into a veritable institution, born in 1926 and the Swan Hotel, in the style English cottage, 100 m from modern port and feet in water.
The hotel was built on the site of the bottling plant in the mineral spring "Graziella", then owned by Vittel and Evian, which wanted to compete on its own soil! The source is now owned by the hotel since 1927!
