History
The history of Les Contamines : The name of the village originates from ancient local dialect. The word "Contamines", derived from Latin condominium through condaminium, once meant ploughable land on the squires estate.
Important dates 1760: Birth of an independent parish (detached from the parish of Saint-Nicolas de Véroce) 1850: Creation of the local Mountain Guides Company 1900: Development of the first tourist infrastructures, hotels etc. 1911: Creation of the local ski club 1937: Creation of the first ski lift 1949: Les Contamines is renamed Les Contamines-Montjoie 1952: Creation of the first chair-lift and the summer playground at l'Etape. 1971: Development of Bellevue, La Ruelle and the Col du Joly.
Read more about this topic: Les Contamines-Montjoie
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (18261877)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)