The Genevois is a former province of the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The du ...

. Its capital is

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nickname ...

and other centres include

Faverges Faverges (; frp, Favèrges) is a former commune located in Haute-Savoie department situated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (south-east of France). On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Faverges-Seythenex.

Thônes Thônes () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France, and is the ″capital″ of local cheeses Reblochon and Chevrotin. Geography The Fier flows northwestward through the middle of ...

, and

La Clusaz La Clusaz (; frp, La Klyuza, ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Overview It is a ski resort in the Alps near the Swiss border. The commune of La Clusaz is part of the Ha ...

. It was bordered by the provinces of Carouge to the north-west,

Faucigny Faucigny ( it, Fossigni) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Historically, Faucigny was a region in Savoy which included the area of the modern ''département'' of Haute Savoi ...

to the north-east, and Savoy proper to the south-east and south-west. Although the province took its name from the city of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, the

Counts of Geneva The County of Geneva, largely corresponding to the later Genevois province, originated in the tenth century, in the Burgundian Kingdom of Arles (Arelat) which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. History Several nobles had held the title of a ...

were never able to exercise their authority in the city itself, which was ruled by the Bishops of Geneva. The County of Geneva, having passed to the de Thoire et Villars family on the death of Count Robert (the Avignon Pope Clement VII) in 1394, was sold in 1401 to the Counts of Savoy. It was subsequently conceded in

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

to several Savoyard princes before being joined to the Duchy of Savoy in 1659.

See also