Italie street and Faubourg Montmélian

You are now at the intersection of Italy street and the Faubourg Montmélian. These two streets used to be just one, which was the main corridor that travelers from Italy had to take to enter Chambéry. Faubourg means suburb, which by definition is outside the city walls. This is where the largest number of inns were located to accommodate those who arrived after the city gates had closed. Prices were also much more affordable than in the city center. As you stroll along the street of Italy, take a look at the rounded shapes of the various shop entrances. These are the former carriage doors of inns allowing entry of coaches and horses. In 1860, once Chambéry became French, Napoleon III decided to open the current rue de la banque, which now separates the axis in two, to facilitate access to the military barracks a little further down. This new street, cutting perpendicularly across the axis, gave rise to the two separate streets we know today. As for the small kiosk topped with a dome that you see on Place d’Italie, it is the fountain of the printing house’s rotunda. It is one of the few examples of Modern Style in Chambéry. It was built in 1905 to be placed at the entrance of a building that was supposed to house a cinema. The project was never completed, and ultimately, a printing house took over the building and the beautiful rotunda that came with it. This explains why the mosaics bear the inscription “Imprimerie Chamberienne.”