The Thermes de Saint Gervais Mont-Blanc is a spa organized around thermal springs, located in the valley of the Arve, in the hamlet of Fayet, in the municipality of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in Haute-Savoie.
Management issues and a rebirth (1870–1892)[edit]
After Dr de Mey's death in 1870, the establishment floundered for 13 years. As stipulated in the doctor's will, the baths were passed on to his 13-year-old nephew, a student of the Dominican Order. Ill-equipped to manage a business of this scale, the Dominican Order took control of the establishment with disastrous results. The baths' reputation dwindled and the establishment began to decline.
In 1883, it was bought by the Compagnie générale des eaux minérales et de bains de mer,[3] a financially stable company that already owned seven baths and enjoyed significant expertise in the field. This proved to be a turning point. More targeted treatments were developed, better adapted to patients' illnesses. Hydrotherapy began being used alongside a host of innovations: pulverisations, compresses and the use of nitrogen . Parallel to this, medical inspector Dr Deligny began promoting the benefits of spring water in treatments for children.
Thanks to advances in medicine in the second half of the 19th century[4] and doctors' research into thermal/spring therapies,[5] the baths were reborn: the future looked bright.
Natural catastrophe strikes on 11 July 1892
On the night of 11 to 12, the Montjoie Valley was hit by an unforeseen natural catastrophe. At around one o'clock in the morning, a torrent of icy mud and rock swept down the mountain to the Arve plain. The hamlets of Saint-Gervais were significantly damaged and the baths were almost entirely destroyed. Over 75 people were impacted by the incident. On the morning of 12 July, the entire valley was in shock.