In the centre of Cernex stands the Château de Cernex. It once monitored a crossroads of three routes: one from the Usses Valley, one from the Col du Mont-Sion and one from Viry.
Culture and History
The Château de Cernex dates from the 13th century and consists of two imposing square towers. It is also a fortified house flanked by two large rectangular pavilions and still has five arrow slits.
The Église de Cernex is a Gothic church. It was built in 1646 and extended in 1749; its visible details include stained-glass windows and a rose window above the imposing entrance.
Le Fort is a very old fortified house and was an outbuilding of the Château de Cernex.
Those planning Cernex as a holiday destination may wish to find a holiday apartment there.
Paths and Landscape
The Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela crosses the upper part of the municipality of Cernex between Andilly, via the Croix-Biche, and Minzier. The Sentier de chez Zabois climbs uphill towards La Motte.
The “Boucle pédestre de Cernex” starts at the Cernex cemetery car park and passes through the heritage of some of the twelve hamlets in the municipality of Cernex. Another path runs between the ponds of Pont-Drillot and the chapel through a hedgerow and continues via the Sentier du Clos to Létraz.
The signposted 10-km route “Sur les traces des graniteurs du Mont Sion” follows in the footsteps of the granite quarrymen on Mont Sion.
In the south of the municipality of Cernex, the Nant Trouble and the Ruisseau de Mostan flow into the Grandes Usses at Pont Drillot.
Geographical Location
Cernex lies on the Annecy–Geneva axis and can be reached via major roads, by train, by plane and by coach. Rail access to Cernex is provided by Saint-Julien-en-Genevois station and Geneva’s Cornavin station, with a bus connection to Saint-Julien-en-Genevois.
