Savigny (; frp, Savnyi) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in south-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Geography

Savigny is located at an altitude of 568 m, approximately 22 km north-west of the city of

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. Nicknamed ...

. The

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a numb ...

commune is located on the eastern foot of the

Vuache The Vuache is a range of hills in eastern France, close to the border with Switzerland (the nearest city is in fact Geneva). To the north lies the Jura and to the south the Alps. At their northern end, the hills drop steeply down to the River R ...

near the wide valley of the Fornant in the Genevois. The 10.52 km² large communal area covers part of the Genevois. The eastern part of the area covers the valley of the Fornant, a right affluent of the Usses. From there, the commune area stretches over the fields and grasslands of Savigny up to the forested ridge of the Vuache where at an altitude of 1101 m the highest point of Savigny is reached. The northern border is formed by the wide mountain crest of the Montagne de Sion. Apart from the actual village of Savigny, the commun covers various hamlets and farms. Among these are: *''Nyoux'' (510 m) in the Fornant valley *''Murcier'' (596 m) at the transition between the Vuache and the Montagne de Sion *''Cortagy'' (630 m) at the eastern slope of the Vuache *''Olliet'' (680 m) at the eastern slope of the Vuache *''Cessens'' (730 m) at the eastern slope of the Vuache Neighbouring communes of Savigny are

Dingy-en-Vuache Dingy-en-Vuache (; frp, Dinzhi) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Savoie department The following is a list of the 279 communes of the Fren ...

in the north,

Jonzier-Épagny Jonzier-Épagny (; frp, Zhonvi-Épanyi) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie '' department'' in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The commune comprises three hamlets (Les Barraques, Épagny, Vigny) and a place named Mont-Sion. ...

in the east, Minzier in the southeast and

Chaumont Chaumont can refer to: Places Belgium * Chaumont-Gistoux, a municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant France * Chaumont-Porcien, in the Ardennes ''département'' * Chaumont, Cher, in the Cher ''département'' * Chaumont-le-Bois, in the C� ...

in the west.

History

The area of Savigny was already populated in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

and during Roman times. First documented evidence of the village occurs in the 15th century. The village's name goes back to the Roman name Sabinus and means Estate of Sabinus.

Places of interest

The church of Savigny was built in the 19th century and has a cupola in Sardinian style.

Population

With a population of 736 inhabitants (January 2010), Savigny is one of the smaller communes in the departement Haute-Savoie. During the course of the 19th and 20th century, the population constantly declined due to strong emigration. In 1861, Savigny only had 595 inhabitants left. Since the beginning of the 1980s, a constant increase in population has taken place.

Economy and Infrastructure

Savigny is still mostly dominated by agriculture. In addition, there are some small businesses. Many employees are commuters who work in the bigger villages of the surrounding as well as in the area of Annecy and Geneva-Annemasse. The village is located on the departement road that leads from Vulbens to Chaumont. Additional road connections exist to Jonzier-Épagny and Minzier.