Visite libre de la Chapelle des Avenières - Journées du Patrimoine 2026

The chapel is located in the heart of the Château des Avenières (next to the reception area). Completed in 1917, this gem of Hermeticism took three years to build and required more than one million glass tesserae made in Murano. This place is full of treasures and symbolism, blending the mysteries of the Tarot with the wheel of the zodiac. The History of the Place: Mary Wallace Shillito was born in 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America. Her father, a powerful businessman, made his fortune in railroads, copper mines, and department stores in Chicago. From childhood, Mary harbored a deep admiration for her younger sister Violet. As teenagers, the two sisters delightedly immersed themselves in a Paris captivated by Orientalism. Violet died of typhoid fever in Cannes in 1901 at the age of 24. Inconsolable, Mary traveled the world. One beautiful afternoon in the summer of 1904, Mary, accompanied by a few friends—including her best friend Marcelle Senard (1879–1971)—visited modest clearings devoted to oat cultivation on the slopes of the Salève. With no passable road, it took them an hour to hike up from Cruseilles. They were struck by the exceptional beauty of the panorama. Instantly, Mary decided to build here the sanctuary she had long dreamed of dedicating to her sister Violet, who had died far too young… Her parents had just passed away; she was now alone, at the head of an immense fortune. She purchased the land, which was sold by farmers from Cruseilles.