Overview
Fire and abandonment left it a ruin by the eighteenth century; the army used it as a barracks until 1947, and the town bought and restored it. The collections run from alpine folk art and regional painting to an observatory of alpine lakes explaining the geology and ecology of the water below. The courtyard is free to enter and worth it for the view alone.
Highlights
Climb to the terrace for the view over the roofs to the lake — the best in Annecy and the reason to make the ten-minute walk up. The lake observatory in the Perrière lodging is the part that connects the museum to what you can see out of the window. Combine it with the Palais de l’Isle below, the twelfth-century prison in the middle of the canal.