Behind its market-town look, Thônes hides a heritage rich for its size. Savoyard Baroque art, wood and mountain traditions, and above all the memory of the Glières maquis: the valley tells its story here through its churches, its museums and its places of remembrance.
Baroque art
The church of Saint-Maurice is the town’s jewel. Behind its typically Savoyard onion-domed tower, it holds a monumental gilded Baroque altarpiece, among the finest in Savoie. It’s a testament to the Baroque art that flourished in these mountain valleys in the 17th and 18th centuries, along the route of the Aravis chapels and sanctuaries.
The museums and wood
Thônes cultivates its rural memory. The Écomusée du Bois et de la Forêt brings to life the wood trades long essential in the valley. The Musée du Pays de Thônes et de la Résistance retraces local history and the role of the Aravis during the Second World War.
The memory of Glières
Close to Thônes, the Glières plateau was a major Resistance site in 1944. The Morette national necropolis and the memorial pay tribute to the maquis fighters who fell. It’s a powerful place, both a hiking site and a place of memory, to be visited with respect.
Booking
The sites and museums can be visited freely or with a ticket depending on the place; hours vary by season. For guided tours of the town or of Glières, ask the Thônes tourist office.
Good to know
When? All year for the church and the town; check the museums’ hours, which vary by season.
Glières. The plateau can be visited summer and winter (cross-country skiing, snowshoeing); the memorial and necropolis are visited in quiet reflection.
With the family. The wood écomusée and the plateau appeal to children; the Resistance museum is more for older visitors.
To combine. With reblochon and a hike for a full day.
See also in Thônes
Taste the terroir with reblochon, or gain height on a hike. Back to the destination: Thônes.