Description : Chambéry (Arpitan: Chambèri; Italian: Sciamberì; Latin: Camberia) is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. In 2017, the commune had a population of 58,919, and its urban area had 190,279 inhabitants. It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V, Count of Savoy, made the city his seat of power. The history of Chambéry is closely linked to the House of Savoy and was the Savoyard capital from 1295 to 1563. During this time, Savoy encompassed a region that stretched from Bourg-en-Bresse in the west, across the Alps to Turin, north to Geneva, and south to Nice. To insulate Savoy from provocations by France, Duke Emmanuel Philibert moved his capital to Turin in 1563, and, consequently, Chambéry declined. France annexed the regions that formerly constituted the Duchy of Savoy west of the Alps in 1792; however, the former Duchy and Chambéry were returned to the rulers of the House of Savoy in Turin in 1815 following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. The need for urban revitalization was met by the establishment of the Société Académique de Savoie in 1820, which was devoted to material and ethical progress, now housed in an apartment of the ducal Château. Chambéry and lands of the former Duchy, as well as The County of Nice, were ceded to France by Piedmont in 1860, under the reign of Napoleon III.
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