Walking tour - Around Lake Môle and the Calvary Chapel

This easy 45 minute walk takes you around Lake Môle and up to the Calvary Chapel, where you can enjoy a gorgeous panorama.

Lake Môle is an artificial lake created in 1969 by digging out a former marsh. It is located between the municipalities of Ville-en-Sallaz and La Tour, in the Mont Blanc region. Covering an area of 10 hectares in an idyllic, wild, and protected setting, it is a paradise for nature lovers, hikers, and fishermen. It has remarkable flora and fauna, including endemic plants to this mountainous region that are used in herbal medicine. Numerous water lilies line its banks and provide a generous habitat for fish, frogs, and herons. It also offers a high density of fish, including predators (pike, perch, black bass), white fish (bream, roach), and common carp. As for the Calvary Chapel, it is important to note that the Calvary hill was originally grassy and had nothing at its summit, not even a few fir trees (planted in 1901). Its name changed over time:b Petit Môle, La Forteresse, Le Pain de Sucre, and even Tour du Guidon. Based on an idea by the parish priest of Bonnaz, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows was built there in a neo-Gothic style and inaugurated on September 15, 1889, approximately one year after the completion of the Way of the Cross. On the fourteenth station of the Way of the Cross, a clearly visible date indicates that the work was completed in 1878. While three stations were built thanks to donations from parishioners, the other eleven were built by families from the region. Thus, every year on the third Sunday in September, a pilgrimage took place up to the chapel. Its construction required materials to be transported by donkeys. Over the years, the chapel underwent several phases of repairs, the first of them took place in 1910-1911. For its 50th anniversary, the bell tower was renovated and the roof was covered with slate in 1971. Step-by-step directions are available by clicking on the printer icon.