CHAMONIX-MONT-BLANC, a well-known Alpine tour ist resort, in the department of Haute-Savoie, south-east France. Pop. (1931) 1,364. The valley of Chamonix runs from north east to south-west, and is watered by the Arve, which rises in the Mer de Glace. On the south-east towers the snowclad chain of Mont Blanc, and on the north-west the rugged chain of the Brevent and of the Aiguilles Rouges. Chamonix (3,416 f t.) is the best starting-point for the exploration of the glaciers of the Mont Blanc chain, as well as for the ascent of Mont Blanc itself. It is connected with Geneva by a railway (55 miles) .
The valley is first heard of about 1091, when it was granted by the count of the Genevois to the great Benedictine house of St. Michel de la Cluse, near Turin, which, by the early 13th century, had established a priory there. In 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519. In 1530 the count of the Genevois granted the privilege of holding two fairs a year. The tourist industry dates from the 18th century, but its development is modern. The first party to publish (1744) an account of their visit was that of Dr. R. Pococke, Mr. W. Windham and other Englishmen who visited the Mer de Glace in 1741.