This rocky promontory overlooking the lower Arve valley was probably developed as early as the 5th century.e The area was first settled in the 11th century by the Burgundians, who chose strategic sites for their settlements. The town truly began to flourish at the start of the 11th century when, following a military defeat against the Holy Roman Empire in 1032, the Count of Geneva established himself there with his family, advisors, and other noble families. La Roche then served as the capital of the County of Geneva for two centuries before passing the role to Annecy. The circular keep, the town's symbol, was built in the last third of the 13th century atop an erratic boulder, formed by the collapse of the Pointe d'Andey onto the glacier more than 25,000 years ago. It is this rock that gave our town its name; the Foron River was not officially added to it until… 1961!
A town of fairs and markets with typical architecture, it has two fortified houses in addition to the castle and fortifications regularly reinforced, mainly in 1320; its charters of liberties were officially written in 1335.
The Count of Savoy bought the County of Geneva at the very beginning of the 15th century: La Roche then became a barony in the lands of this count and later duke, Savoy being erected into a duchy in 1416. The town developed and prospered.
Despite the difficulties of the 16th century – French occupation of Savoy from 1536 to 1559, fires in 1507 and 1530, two plague epidemics (1542 and 1587) and a long war against Geneva – La Roche was beautified with a Renaissance architectural style and gave pride of place to its teaching by allocating to it a beautiful building at the foot of the castle, in which the municipal media library is located today.
At the beginning of the 17th century, to strengthen Catholicism against the Protestantism emanating from Geneva, in addition to the canons of the collegiate church, La Roche welcomed three new religious orders: Capuchins who built their monastery at the foot of the castle, Jesuits responsible for education, and Bernardine nuns, who settled in the Château du Saix before building their convent in a suburb of the town. In 1682, La Roche became a marquisate: this was enough to displease the inhabitants of La Roche, who resented being under the authority of the Marquis of Graneri of Turin, and no longer directly under the Duke of Savoy!
As a consequence of another military defeat, Savoy was occupied by Spanish troops from 1742 to 1749, and La Roche bore the brunt of it. It emerged weary, degraded, weakened, and stripped of much of its old fortifications. Its appearance and hygiene needed improvement. Following a major fire in Rue Perrine in 1751, the decision was made to modify the medieval architecture by removing the large overhanging roofs, as well as the wooden galleries and arcades, beginning with this street; this work would continue throughout the rest of the town until the end of the following century. A new bell tower was erected on its ashlar tower dating from 1575. It would be destroyed a few decades later when, in 1792, French revolutionary troops entered Savoy.
Urbanization accelerated in the 19th century, further erasing medieval elements. The onion-domed bell tower reappeared as convents changed function, becoming seminaries, schools, or hospitals. A new district emerged before 1850 in a neoclassical style typical of this Sardinian period, beginning with the Grenette (market hall) in 1831, followed by the Town Hall completed in 1847, and finally, a street lined with arcades opened within the old ramparts to connect the old town center in front of the church to this new, modern town center.
In 1860, Nice and Savoy were annexed by France: La Roche now found itself in the heart of a new French department, Haute-Savoie. The old mills gradually gave way to other industries, a large bridge more easily connected the two banks of the Foron River, the train arrived in 1883, and in 1885, a source of great pride, La Roche became the first town in France to install electric street lighting powered by hydroelectricity. The importance of education in La Roche, already mentioned in medieval texts, continued: at the end of the 19th and throughout the 20th centuries, the number of schools increased significantly.
Still alive, still vibrant, La Roche-sur-Foron continues to evolve while preserving its rich traces of the past!