Winter resort in W Switzerland on Lake
Geneva; population (1980) 21,000. It is the
site of the island rock fortress of Chillon,
where Francois Bonivard (commemorated by the
poet Byron), prior of the Abbey of St Victor,
was imprisoned 1530-36 for his opposition to
the Duke of Savoy. At the annual television
festival (first held 1961), the premier award
is the Golden Rose of Montreux.