Voiron is a French commune located in the ninth district of the department of Isère in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and, formerly, attached to the former province of Dauphiné. An important town in the Middle Ages, Voiron retains traces of this period still visible today: the Saint-Pierre church (built in 752), the Barral Tower – vestige of the medieval castle – and the Sermorens district, its heart historical.
Voiron is renowned for its world-famous companies such as Rossignol skis, Radiall electronic components, the Bonnat chocolate factory, drinks with Antésite plant extracts, Denantes weaving, the toy wholesaler who owns the King brand. Toys, Sidas sports technologies,the famous Chartreuse cellars and their green and amber liqueurs…
Voiron is located near many tourist sites including in particular the lake of Paladru, the site of the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse and the regional natural park of Chartreuse of which it is one of the three cities “door” with Chambéry and Grenoble. The city therefore remains linked to a growing tourist activity and managed by a local tourist office, linked to the community of municipalities.
History
The history of Voiron begins more than 20 centuries ago, with the installation of the Gallic people of the Allobroges, then the Roman occupation. Historically, the city was the seat of the county of Sermorens, an area located at the outlet of the Isère cluse, at the foot of the Chartreuse massif and at the end of the diocese of Vienne. This border region between Dauphiné and Savoy will be a little later the object of numerous conflicts, from 1150 to 1350, between the various counts of Savoy and Dauphins, the latter eventually falling to the latter. The Voironnais, attached to the Dauphiné in 1355 will then become definitively French.
Prehistory
On the territory of the neighboring town of La Buisse, located 5 kilometers south-east of the Voiron station, the excavation of a quarry in 1841 brought to light some fifty bodies as well as a important furniture (flint blades, deer antler including a pickaxe), dating from the Azilian period (Epipaleolithic). Another Neolithic site has been discovered on the southern shore of Lake Paladru, about 10 kilometers north of Sermorens.
Antiquity
At the beginning of Antiquity, the territory of the Allobroges extended over most of the countries which would later be named Sapaudia (this “land of fir trees” would become Savoy) and north of Isère. The Allobroges, like many other Gallic peoples, are a “confederation”. In fact, the Romans gave, for convenience the name of Allobroges to all the Gallic peoples living in the civitate (city) of Vienna, to the west and south of Sapaudia.
During the Gallo-Roman period, Salmorungum was a small trading village whose existence we know from the remains of rich Roman villas discovered during the construction of the western ring road of the current city.
Nowadays, the Sermorens suburb, located north of the city center, reminds us by name of the city’s Roman past. There was also a small oppidum (Roman outpost) whose role was to monitor the outlet of the gorges of the Morge, located roughly on the site of the Barral tower and which bore the name of Castrum Voronis (perhaps the ‘origin of the name Voiron).
Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Located between the Rhone Valley and the Alps, home of the former Kingdom of Burgundy, County Sermorens, probably created the ix th century, enjoyed a certain political autonomy. Sermorens is, in the year 800, cited as archdeacon, and around 850, as a ” pagus ” corresponding to what will later become a county. This stronghold is administered from the Carolingian ” villa ” “villa salmoringa” where in 858 the assembly of the Three Provinces was held, the name of a current suburb of Voiron.
During the Middle Ages, Voiron was only a modest village, but the city was already a strategic location which attracted many traders. Indeed, its border position with the neighboring Dauphiné (it was then Savoyard from 1029 to 1355) gave it an undeniable commercial advantage over its rivals (Vienne and Grenoble). From this distant time only weak traces remain in the heart of the city. The Barral castle dominated the city, the Barral tower was one of its elements. This geographical situation will end as of the annexation of Voiron by the kingdom of France.
However, the county of Sermorens had to endure, like its neighbors, the counties of Vienne and Grenoble, the vagaries of history. Subject to protest his possession between the Archbishop of Vienna Guy of Burgundy, and the Bishop of Grenoble, St. Hugh, the Sermorens county eventually disappear during the 12th century.
The monastery of the Grande Chartreuse is the first monastery and the mother house of the Carthusian Order. It is located in the town of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse in Isère, 30 kilometers from Voiron. It is the establishment of the Carthusians in the massif that gave them this name.
In the spring of 1084, master Bruno, guided by the bishop of Grenoble, arrived in the place that would henceforth be called “the Carthusian Desert” because of its isolation.
Following several avalanches, some looting and finally the fire of 1676, Dom Innocent Le Masson rebuilt the monastery according to a new architectural style, the one we know. The buildings have been classified as a historical monument since 1920.
The 18th century
At the beginning of the 18th century, Voiron, regarded locally as the small capital of the Chartreuse mountains and its surroundings, or at least, the most important city between Grenoble, Lyon and Chambery, has about 1200 inhabitants and more a hundred of them work in the processing of hemp.
80 years later, 1,200 hemp producers are found in the Voironnais as well as 2,760 looms. Since the turn of the century, production has been organized around the Voironnaise factory and the fabrics are marked to certify their origin. The city acquires a great reputation thanks to its paintings resulting from a secular know-how. But the privileges granted by Louis XII disappeared during the Revolution. However, the production of canvas did not run out of steam and their reputations made it possible to maintain activity under the First Empire, in particular thanks to orders from the army. The 19th century saw the decline of the great era of the canvas in Voiron especially because of competition from linen and then cotton, as well as because of the disappearance of the sailing navy which was a large consumer of Voiron fabrics.
19th century
In the 19th century always, we begin to whisper the name of the town of Voiron in many kingdoms of Europe. The silks voironnaises are known throughout Europe for their finesse. Voiron then took advantage of cheap female labor, housed in the factory and often poorly paid. On the eve of the First World War, the silk weaving activity used nearly 3,000 looms.
At the same time the rise of paper factories on the banks of the Morge, the river crossing the small town, attracts many workers to the town and from there begins a new golden age. The 19th century, it is also the religious influence of the city thanks to the audacity of a magistrate ambitious first erected in 1876, the church of Saint-Bruno the Gothic Revival style. We can also mention the elevation of a statue representing the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, a tribute to Notre-Dame-de-France in Puy-en-Velay.
20th century
Then comes the 20th century, the industrial revolution, the decline of the silk, paper and the advent of the flagship company of the municipality: the Rossignol founded in 1907 by Abel Rossignol. Entire families of Voiron, Italian immigrants who arrived en masse at the beginning of the century will work in these factories. The city is developing, expanding. The population exceeds 15,000 inhabitants. Large world-renowned industries are developing, Voiron will thus see the birth of the Radiall company specializing in precision mechanics, or even Gueydon toys, from which the brand: King Jouet originated.
Voiron holds a special place in the history of French trade unionism. The telefilm Mélancolie Ouvrière by Gérard Mordillat, adapted from the eponymous book by historian Michelle Perrot published in 2012 by Grasset editions, traces the career of Lucie Baud (1870-1913), a silk worker in the Dauphiné who led strikes in Vizille and Voiron. This would be one of the first women trade unionists, becoming the workers representative steward of Vizille silk and Voiron in 6 th National Congress of the textile industry in Reims inAugust 1904.
In 1906, when Voiron, which is a hotbed of the textile industry where many women workers work, was hit by a general textile strike called by the unions grouped around the CGT following repeated wage cuts. In reaction, the free union of the workers of the weaving of Voiron (union free female) is created based on the social morality of the Church. In 1936, this union merged with the free male unions of Isère. Consequently, Voiron constitutes, in a way, next to Lyon and Paris, one of the cradles of Christian trade unionism, better known by the acronym CFTC.
The city changes face after the Second World War, by extending its borders with new districts: Brunetière, Baltiss, Le Colombier… Voiron becomes a modern city and open to the world, committed to the international path through its commercial dynamism and its twinning with the cities of Herford (Germany), Bassano del Grappa (Italy) and Sibenik (Croatia).
21th century
Today a major economic and administrative center of the Isère department, with more than 10,000 jobs, new industries, difficult reconversion after the departure of Rossignol and Johnson & Johnson, Voiron is keen to keep its total independence vis-à-vis – vis-à-vis its enormous neighbor, the Grenoble conurbation and its 500,000 inhabitants. The Pays Voironnais is working to attract new jobs aimed at limiting the dormitory phenomenon already affecting the suburbs of Voironnaise. Since 2010, due to the urban sprawl between Voreppe and Voiron, this municipality has been considered by INSEE as belonging to the urban unit of Grenoble.
Tourism
Capital of the Pays Voironnais, Voiron offers the softness of a city on a human scale and the conviviality of many services. Located at an altitude of 300 meters, at the foot of the foothills of the Chartreuse Regional Natural Park, Voiron has a little over 21,000 inhabitants and offers visitors a welcoming and lively face. Even if Voiron has kept some traces of a medieval past (Saint- Pierre church, Sermorens district, Barral tower, etc.), the town was remodeled under the industrial era in the 19th century. Stationery and weaving have given way to internationally renowned companies such as Radiall, Sidas…
Another symbol, and not the least, of the capital of the Pays Voironnais, the imposing Saint Bruno church, often nicknamed “cathedral” by the people of the Voironnais. Although of recent construction (1864), this building is inspired by the cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Behind the Saint-Bruno church, the Notre-Dame-de-Vouise hill, surmounted by the eponymous statue, watches over the city.
Stroll through one of the oldest and most important markets in the Rhône-Alpes region, where the smells, colors and flavors will awaken your senses. Then stroll through the shopping streets with colorful facades, where you will find windows and sunny terraces, or in the city garden to have a bowl of nature.
Voiron is home to the famous Caves de Chartreuse, where this centuries-old liqueur is made. Considered to be one of the largest liqueur cellars in the world, the secret of the Carthusians is well kept… You can take a guided tour and then taste the region’s emblematic liquor. Sweet palates will dive into the fragrant world of the Bonnat chocolate factory, located in the city center, one of the last in France to process chocolate from the bean to the finished product. Voiron is also the cradle of the more than a century old and alcohol-free drink, known by more than 80% of the French population, Antésite (on sale in the syrups department of supermarkets and local products stores).
Landmark
St. Peter’s Church
The Church of St. Peter dates the ix th century, it is thus one of the oldest monuments in the town of Voiron and is among the few traces of the medieval past of the town with Barral tower, and the neighborhood Sermorens.
Built at the foot of a hill already occupied in the Gallo-Roman period, it would have been built on a private domanial chapel dating from the Carolingian period and was then transformed into a parish church. The faithful were accessing the medieval church with a bell tower, and that’s the 15th century it was enlarged by the construction of five chapels Gothic annexes.
Many works reshuffle took place on this religious building in particular in 1826, 1921 and 1927. The sobriety of the interior which is still visible today dates from 1965. renovation Two paintings from the 17th century ornament of this place worship; a painting on wood in the Saint-Joseph chapel dating from 1821 represents the Vow of Louis XIII. The other is a Flemish school painting on canvas showing a descent from the cross. Another more recent painting also decorates the church, it is a Madonna and Child, which was offered in 1821 by Dode de La Brunerie. The furniture consists of stalls located in the choirand a chair at the back of the church from the 18th century. The two confessionals were built by a carpenter from the commune, M. Chartrousse, and date from 1803.
Visitors arriving in Voiron via Avenue Jules-Ravat discover the imposing building. Despite some stubborn local beliefs, Saint-Bruno is not a cathedral but a parish church, a cathedral being the location of the bishop responsible for looking after the diocese. Back on 150 years of existence of a building that has made a lot of talk.
On August 6, 1864, the first stone was laid in the presence of the prefect, the bishop of Isère and a large population of Voironnaise. The event is celebrated with great fanfare under the aegis of Mayor Frédéric Faige-Blanc, who entrusted architect Berruyer with the task of carrying out this project. The structural work, provided by the Grenoble-based contractors Palud father and son, and the roofing, were completed in 1872. But the fall of the Second Empire and the lack of money interrupted the work. It was not until 22 May 1883 that the he Bishop of Grenoble solemnly consecrates the Church of Saint-Bruno.
From the genesis of the project, the municipal ambition to have a building worthy of Voiron came up against the thorny question of its financing. The shell is financed by the collection of the grant, a loan, the sale of the Augustinian church and state aid. The mobilization of wealthy Voironnais made it possible to finance interior decorations and furniture. The Carthusian Order is the most important benefactor: donation of 100,000 francs, financing of a bell and part of the stained glass windows. The owners of the Voironnaise industry also participate in the outcome of the project: the Monnet-Daiguenoire family offers a bell, a Christ on the cross, a chandelier and the wooden doors; the Poncet family partly finances the pipe organ and the Stations of the Cross; The second-hand purchase of the pipe organ allows substantial savings.
The facade has two bell towers with arrows. These are in tuff rubble and the decorative elements in molded cement. The use of the latter material was a novelty in this type of construction, and the church thus benefited barely 10 years after the opening of the first cement operation at Porte de France in Grenoble. Limestone comes from quarries from Isère or from the department of Ain.
For reasons of economy and aesthetic choice, the current interior layout was completed in the 1920s. Confessionals, oak stalls and low choir fence were made by artists from Lyon (Boisard and Aubert workshops), are installed between 1874 and 1901 and are still visible today. The organ, built in 1883 by the Callinet and Rouffach brothers, was listed as a historical monument in 1973. It was not until the 1920s to see the interior of the church adorned with murals made by the Italian Marinelli and four mounted paintings present in the choir. The Grenoble painter Joseph Girard is the author of the paintings. The 17 chandeliers were installed in 1915 and financed through the bequest of Constance Neyroud. Three of the four bells come from foundry workshops in Lyon. Cabinetmakers from Angevin also worked in the building. The stained-glass windows come from the Gsell-Laurent workshop, master glassmaker in Paris.
The duration of the interior design (50 years) can be explained by the City’s desire to seek stylistic unity. All the decorative elements and furnishings are inspired by the Gothic style, characterized in particular by the omnipresence of pointed arch windows and the use of elegant glass roofs. The proximity of the Grande Chartreuse convent influenced part of the theme of the works present: painting depicting the Bishop of Grenoble blessing Saint Bruno, stained glass windows recounting the latter’s life. The rest of the decorative elements recall the life of Christ and the saints often honored in France.
The original use of concrete and the stylistic uniformity of the building earned the church its full state classification as a historic monument in 2007.
Religious heritage
Church Saint-Bruno Voiron
The church Saint-Bruno the 19th century is the work of the diocesan architect Alfred Berruyer (1819-1901) who built here a neo-Gothic style monument inspired by the cathedrals of the 12th century. The church has been listed since 1994 in the inventory of historical monuments, then was classified by decree ofJanuary 11, 2007, and is an important regional monument for its cement architecture. The organ was also classified as a historical monument in 1973.
Church of Saint Joseph de Paviot
A last church, Saint Joseph, known as Paviot, named after a locality on the edge of Saint-Jean-de-Moirans, is contemporary.
Chapel of Grace
The Notre Dame des Grâces chapel is located rue Grenette. Known as the “White Penitents”, it was built in the late 17th century and rebuilt in 1910. It is currently devolved to evangelical worship under the name Chapel of Grace. The exterior statue of The Virgin overlooking the street has been deposited.
Chapel of Our Lady of Victories
The private school group Notre Dame des Victoires – Les Oiseaux has its own private chapel, built in 1884.
Hospital chapel
The Voiron hospital tower houses a chapel on the ground floor, which is still in use.
Chapel of the Brunerie
The Domaine de la Brunerie includes a small chapel, which is located near the castle, in the north of the territory.
Monastery of the Visitation
The town is home to the monastery of the Visitation “Notre Dame du May” affiliated to the Order of the Visitation of Sainte Marie founded in 1834 by Adèle de Jussieusur the Domaine du May, a former noble property offered to the Order. The monastery includes the Saint Joseph Chapel.
Civil heritage
Place d’Armes fountain
The fountain on the Place d’Armes is located opposite the Saint-Bruno church at the foot of its square. It was erected in 1826 by the mayor Hector Denantes. It was planned to erect a fountain at this location since the year 1786 in order to cope with the development of this district. But it was not until 1822 that M. Denantes decided to meet a contractor of fountains in Lyon, and it was M. Blandin who made the statue. The inaugural party took place onNovember 4, 1826.
Domaine de La Brunerie
The domain of La Brunerie (Guillaume Dode de La Brunerie), located near the commercial area of the laundries, today houses the CREPS Rhône-Alpes. It includes a castle of the 17th century and a park.
Barral Tower
The tower Barral date of 13th century, it was part of the defensive system of Voiron, the town being at the time, and from the 11th century, an enclave in territory Savoyard potatoes. It was at this time and under the impetus of Pierre II of Savoy that the castle which had a parallelogram shape and the double wall which descended on the hill were born in Voiron. A tower 11.50 m in diameter stood on the highest point of the site. The Dauphinois took the castle several times and it was following the Treaty of Paris of 1355 that Amédée VI abandoned his possessions which were located to the west ofGuiers that included the castles of Voiron and Tolvon (in the municipality of Saint-Étienne-de-Crossey) that were delivered to the Dolphin in 1377.
Later, around half of the 18th century family Viriville rebuilt the castle that was left in ruins, then it was bought by the de Barral family who ceded the castle in 1910 to the town, which built the current hospital on this site. The tower is a witness to the past of this ancient castle and took the name of the last family that owned it. Today only one floor remains, with its vaulted ceiling, a door and two windows, each with a semicircular arch.. You can access the tower either from a path starting from the back of the hospital, near the silo car park, or from a path starting from 77 rue Saint Vincent.
Pas de la Belle Tower
Remains of the Pas de la Belle Tower. The tower was ruined in the 17th century
War memorial
The monument to the dead by sculptor Gaston Dintrat where a winged Victory holds a crown in each hand and protects the dead. The mobile of 1871 and the hairy man of the great war are united in death. Two caryatids, representing mourning and pain, watch over monument.
Chartreuse cellars
The cellars of the Chartreuse de Voiron are now the only place of production of the eponymous liqueur of the Chartreux Fathers. Welcoming more than 150,000 visitors each year who can discover the old century-old copper stills next to which are ultra-modern stills allowing the Carthusians to control all stages of the distillation from their monastery of the Grande Chartreuse located in Saint -Pierre-de-Chartreuse, 25 kilometers further. The 130 plants necessary for the preparation of the Carthusian monastery are picked by the Carthusians and prepared in the plant room of the monastery, to be then sent in large canvas bags to the distillery. The cellars and the distillery have been installed since 1935 in the town of Voiron after having been successively installed at the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse, at the Fourvoirie (Saint-Laurent-du-Pont), in Tarragona (in Spain) then in Marseille. They are the largest liquor cellars in the world.
Notre Dame de la Vouise
The statue and the orientation table of Notre-Dame-de-Vouise are located on the hill of Vouise.
Culminating at 737 meters above Voiron, the tower supporting the statue of Notre-Dame-de-Vouise offers a panoramic view of the city and the Chartreuse and Vercors massifs. The statue, funded by a subscription launched by Voiron in 1864, was built by a boilermaker Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, Charles Herold, who realized here a copper replica at 1/2 scale (or 7 m of top) of that of Notre-Dame-de-France du Puy-en-Velay. It was first exhibited in the market square, then was transported in pieces on its pedestal in 1868. There are three routes to get to the statue in about thirty minutes, and then it remains to climb 90 steps to reach the top of its tower.
Cultural heritage
The city of Voiron houses the following cultural buildings on its territory:
The Wide Angle
This performance hall, created in 1982, has 300 to 1,700 seats or 2,400 with the pit. For more than thirty years, this hall has hosted the greatest artists of song, music, dance and theater. A stage of 300 m 2 of stage surface and 100 meters of scenic clearance, with an equipped technical grill ensures an ideal quality of shaping of all the shows.
Cinemas
The Passr’L cinema is made up of two complexes and twelve theaters, including the Passr’L Le Mail cinema, located at 4, rue des Fabriques and the Passr’L Les Ecrans cinema, located on rue Georges Clemenceau.
The Mosaic space
This space includes a (MJC) with an associative building open to all, from the age of three and the café-concert “atmosphere”
The Philippe-Vial media library
This municipal facility in the City of Voiron was inaugurated in January 2001. The building was designed by the architectural firm Charon-Rampillon. The media library covers an area of 1,550 m 2 and offers a wide choice of documents to consult or borrow (books, recorded and wide-view books, newspapers and magazines, audio CDs and sheet music, CD-ROMs and DVDs). All these documents are spread over five areas: the Youth, News, Adolescents and adults, Music sectors and the 35-seat study room.
The Mainssieux museum
This site is labeled “Musée de France”. The museum has for origins the bequest of Lucien Mainssieux (1885-1958) to his hometown in 1958. The tour starts from the reception hall on the ground floor, where cut out silhouettes bring memories of Mainssieux and his time to life. On the first floor, two rooms are dedicated to “Mainssieux collector” and “Un voironnais à Paris”. On the second floor, room 3 leads one to discover “A life between painting and music”, being Mainssieux also a good musician, and room 4 presents the relationship between “Mainssieux and the Mediterranean”
The Theory of Curved Spaces
Place of creation, experimentation and exhibition. It was in 2012 that François Germain, professional artist, bought an old craft building of around 130 m 2, rue Gambetta. InJune 2013, this building becomes an exhibition space and artistic residence. TEC is based on volunteering and activism and refuses any subsidy in order to be a place of completely independent expression. Since then, the alternative art center has organized seventeen exhibitions, presented fifty-three artists and received 10,000 visitors. The TEC is presented as “a utopia in motion”.
Voiron village hall
This room located on Place Jacques-Antoine-Gau is available to citizens and associations. With a capacity of 460 people, this room is equipped with tables and chairs, and a professional kitchen.
Events and Festivals
Great local gatherings and festivities
The fair of Saint Martin
The annual Saint-Martin fair, celebrated on November 10 and 11, was created in 1356.
In recent years, nearly 650 fairgrounds, traders and associations have set up shop in the streets of the capital of the Chartreuse and more than 200,000 people have come to discover their stands during the last editions. It was the counts of Savoy who still reigned at that time over the town of Voiron who granted the inhabitants of the town the right to enjoy a weekly market, every Wednesday, and an annual fair onNovember 11th, Saint-Martin’s Day.
Originally this fair was intended to allow exchanges between neighboring village communities but very quickly it was a certain success and the local administrations of the time granted the fairgrounds an additional day, the November 10, à la Saint-Martin. During this period most of the fairgrounds were bakers, cattle traders, clothiers, farmers, cheese makers, millers, jewelers coming from all over France to sell their products. The only years when the fair would have been canceled, would be 1714 and 1715 following livestock epidemics affecting a large part of the herds. Nowadays the animals are no longer at the fair, and the clothiers have been replaced by the clothing merchants, but Saint-Martin is still a meeting place for strolling, and meeting artisans from the region.
The international circus festival
This artistic event, which welcomes more than 20,000 people, took place from 2015 to 2018 in Voiron at the Domaine de la Brunerie, under a 4,000 m 2 marquee. In 2019, this festival returns to the city of Grenoble
Other events
The bi-weekly market, open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, located on the mall between the town hall and the Saint-Bruno church. This market has nearly 250 exhibitors and is presented as one of the largest markets in the Isère department.
The wine and food fair usually takes place in November. The 27 th edition took place on 4 andNovember 5, 2017at the Voiron village hall in the presence of around forty producers and professionals in the food and wine industry.
The Italian cinema festival is organized every year by the Amitié Voiron Bassano association and which celebrates Italian cinema. A dozen films in their original version are shown in the city’s two cinemas.
The World Cultures Festival has existed for almost 30 years and every year invites countries from all over the world to share their cultures. Traditionally, this festival offered on the occasion of its closing ceremony a huge ox on a spit that everyone shared around songs, dances and music from around the world. In the 20th century and x11th century, this beef is replaced by a giant barbecue.
Sporting events
the Roc de Chartreuse (qualifying mountain race for the Ultra-Trail around Mont-Blanc).
the Voironnaise.
Natural heritage
The public gardens
The town garden, located near the town hall, is a heritage from an estate of the Becquart-Castelbon family. The town hall marks the entrance to this municipal park which extends over 30,400 m 2 of greenery and multicolored flower beds thanks to the many species of plants composing them, such as forget – me – nots, pansies, petunias, tulips, etc.. The city garden also includes nearly three hundred different tree species: cedar, oak, maple, magnolia, chestnut, pine,ginkgo, a number of which are hundred years old and a plane tree nearly two hundred and fifty years old over fifty in height for a trunk six meters in circumference, whose size and age have taken the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes federation from nature conservation to classify it among the remarkable trees of the region. Ducks, fallow deer, geese and peacocks are present throughout the year in the park, cards and geese benefiting from a 2,500 m 2 pond, the fallow deer are found in enclosures at the park center.
City garden
The Jardin de Ville has 300 different trees, many of which are 100 years old. To see: the vast pond, the ducks, geese, deer, the lawn with colorful flower beds and an urban beehive, installed to promote biodiversity.
Grid park
French garden designed by Maximilien Ernest Curten, a pupil of the gardener at Versailles Le Nôtre in the 17th century. The Grid, to which the park owes its name, is a masterpiece of ironwork.
Orgère Park
This park (early 1900) heralded the advent of molded concrete in the art of gardens.
Massieu-parc town hall
Created around 1850 by Mme and M. de Pelagey, botany enthusiasts, this park offers a great diversity of remarkable trees mainly from Africa or America. Discovery trail (1km). Also discover the educational pond, the park…
Domaine Saint Jean de Chepy park
Surrounding the Domaine Saint Jean de Chepy with its 10 hectares, the Domaine’s park is an atypical place, mixing nature, art and heritage.
Virieu castle park
Recreated on their original 17th century model, these gardens are made up of three parts: to the south the reception garden and the orchard-vegetable garden; to the west, the terraces ending with the belvedere. They are protected as monuments…
Clos des Chartreux Tullins Park
An ideal place for a family walk, the Clos des Chartreux park will offer you a view of the Chartreuse and the Vercors, continuing your walk to the belvedere. 4 orienteering courses for all levels: blue, red, green sports and disabled sports…
Longpra Castle Park
Designed in the 18th century but remained unfinished, the French-style park leads to the main courtyard of the castle with a star shape and octagonal central basin. To the north, a plantation of
Flowering
In march 2017, the municipality confirms the level “a flower” in the competition of towns and villages in bloom, this label rewards the flowering of the municipality for the year 2016.. In 2014, she had received “two flowers”.
Forest heritage, fauna and floral
The city of Voiron has a natural area of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest (ZNIEFF), this remarkable natural land area is part of the natural heritage of the town. It is the Teissonnière reed bed, is a type ZNIEFF located exclusively on the territory of the city of Voiron, it is as its name suggests a wetland where mainly reeds grow. Thus this space which occupies the bottom of the valley of Teissonnière is of great interest for many amphibians such as toads (Bufo bufo), frogs (Rana dalmatina), salamandersand newts which find here a suitable place for the reproduction of their species. However, an embankment erected in the middle of the valley threatens the wetland, and a road runs along this ZNIEFF separating the wood of Montmain (place of hibernation of these amphibians) from the reed bed (place of reproduction) forcing the amphibians to cross it and often to get run over.
Each year on the Teissonnière site, the Voiron-Chartreuse Ecological Committee, an association created in 1975 organizes a campaign to protect amphibians by laying nets along the road, this site being the longest to be protected in Isère (1 km), and more than 6,000 amphibians would thus be saved each year from the crash.