Quay mont blanc city. Walks in Geneva

Geneva, like Zurich, is the main air gate of the country, therefore, few people manage to bypass this city in their wanderings. Not to say that it is full of attractions, but as an interesting staging post, I think it is worthy of attention, especially if there is a question of waiting many hours or walking, I will always choose the latter. Well and the best place for a promenade and acquaintance with some local attractions, the Mont Blanc embankment is traditionally considered.

The easiest way to get here is by train from the airport to Kornavan train station.

Then we leave the station building and move across the square past neo-gothic Notre Dame Basilica... At the other end we are met by Rue Mont Blanc. The beginning of this street is pedestrian; there are many different cafes and souvenir shops.

Closer to the lower part of the street, the bustle of the station gradually decreases and more and more luxury hotels, famous jewelry and watch shops appear. Although the shops with Chinese products do not disappear completely.

And here is the Mont Blanc in all its glory. How many times have not done this path, still getting here, an involuntary sigh of admiration escapes. A fountain, yachts, a lake, transparent air and it seems the scent of freedom ...

By the way, a fountain called Je-d'Eau is considered the hallmark of Geneva... Its jet hits upward to a height of about 150 meters, and someone even considered that about 7 tons of water are constantly in the air.

And it arose, one might say, by chance. At the end of the 19th century, the Mont Blanc quay was distinguished by a large number of factories located nearby, which were constant consumers of water. When they stopped production at one hour, the pressure in the water supply inevitably increased, creating the risk of bursting pipes. Therefore, it was decided to install a relief valve in the lake, where excess water could go. For the last 10 years, the fountain has been operating daily, only sometimes it is turned off during frost or strong winds.

Quay Mont Blanc - quite popular tourist place that's why the enterprising Swiss have built many wonderful cafes here, where make excellent coffee... I highly recommend grab a cup and sit on the comfortable benches.

On the left, along the Mont Blanc, is the famous English Garden with a flower clock.

The author of the idea is the scientist Karl Linnaeus, who studied for a long time floristry. His flower clock reflected the biological rhythm of plants and flowers - certain flowers closed and opened at a certain time. Modern clocks have existed since 1955, although before that there were also attempts to implement the scientist's idea.

The diameter of this composition is about 5 meters, and the annual number of planted flowers reaches six and a half thousand pieces.

The Mont Blanc embankment is also famous for the monument "with friendly girls" - Geneva and Helvetia... This union represents the annexation of Geneva in 1814 to the Confederation.

There is a pier not far from here, and if time permits, you can take a short or many hours walk along the water area. I prefer wandering along pedestrian bridges, which are simply countless here.

Here is a program for boring waiting.

Looking at these dark clouds hanging over Geneva, it is difficult to agree that we were lucky with the weather. But, if you think that, as soon as the bus left Lausanne, it poured a torrential rain and poured right up to the Geneva the promenade of Mont Blanc ... We went out into the street, the rain ended, so it never happened again that day. Lucky, except for the dark and rather gloomy photographs.

And the place where we stopped turned out to match the weather - the very first attraction we saw turned out to be a mausoleum - Monument to Brunswick (Monument Brunswick). Here, in full view, almost in the very center of Geneva, and not at all in a quiet cemetery, rests Karl III Friedrich Duke of Braunschweig. Born in Prussia in 1804, who ascended the throne at the age of 19, he tried to siphon a lot of money from his country during his reign. As a result of revolutionary events, in 1830, he was deprived of the throne, titles and privileges, he moved to Paris, having managed to take with him a huge fortune and a collection of diamonds.

Contemporaries spoke of him as an excellent linguist, an excellent horseman and musician, as well as a chess player, but at the same time the duke was distinguished by eccentricity and paranoia, suffered from persecution mania and claustrophobia. After the fall of the French Empire, he had to leave Paris and move to a quieter and more respectable Geneva , where he lived until his death, without denying himself anything. But the huge money did not bring the poor man peace, he suffered from a persecution mania, was afraid of being poisoned, being buried alive, and also being buried deep in the ground in a boarded-up coffin.

Karl Friedrich lived in hotels, ate in restaurants, and at home he drank exclusively hot chocolate, milk for which was specially brought from one of the farms in a closed box, and which his chamberlain was the first to taste. Once playing chess in my room, duke suddenly got up, said to his partner: "Do not defame here without me!", went into the next room, lay down on the bed and died.

As it should be, many relatives claimed a huge fortune, before whose eyes were looming stocks, gold bars and diamonds. One can imagine their state when it turned out that the duke declared his heir Geneva with the condition that the city is obliged to take care of the burial and perpetuation of its memory. The funeral should take place in a manner worthy of his august origin, the coffin is placed in a mausoleum, built in a public place, supplemented by marble portraits of his ancestors and his own equestrian statue in bronze, erected by the best architects of the era and without regard to the price of the project, for which the radiant eccentric nobleman allocated twenty million francs.

Mausoleum made in the form of an exact copy of the tomb of the wealthy Scaligeri family ("Arch of the Scaligeri") in Verona, Italy (14th century) and erected on the coast Lake Geneva in the Alpine square.

Placed at a height of 6 meters coffin with the body of a duke. The body is in a cast silver sarcophagus, on which a rosewood cap was also placed (at first, before the construction of the mausoleum, it was placed in a temporary grave). Duke lies with his head to the lake and feet to the hated Catholic Rome (he was a Protestant). The six sculptors who created the mausoleum did not spare either marble or bronze.

The majestic keep the peace griffins and lions.

Bronze duke proudly rides on a horse, watching all this splendor. In Lausanne, we have already seen Ryumin's palace: , who by his will ordered his own immortality and created one of the attractions of Switzerland. The same is in Geneva, the size of the inheritance convinced the city council of the greatness of the soul of the deceased, and the city of Geneva still used the remaining funds for the manufacture of the golden gates of the Bastion Park and the construction of the city Opera.

We walk quite a bit along the promenade of Mont Blanc and admire Sisi monument - to the Austrian empress, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I - Elisabeth.
The Austrian emperor fell in love with Elizabeth and married her, although he was supposed to marry her sister Helene. Three children were born in the marriage - two daughters and a son - Rudolph, the heir to the throne. Life at court was full of conventions, even with her own children, the young mother could not see at will.

The imminent death of one of the daughters, and then the son, who either committed suicide or became a victim of a political murder, undermined the strength and health Elizabeth causing severe depression. To recover, she goes on trips. Moving from country to country, Elizabeth preferred solitude, refusing to be accompanied.

Fate in the person of the anarchist Luigi Lucceni lay in wait for her on the morning of Saturday, September 10, 1898, when she was walking along the embankment of Geneva. A blow from a sharpening (sharpened triangular file) knocked him off his feet, leaving a tiny puncture wound in the region of the heart. At first, she did not even understand what had happened and continued on to the steamer, where she was heading, having lived for about half an hour after the assassination attempt with a hole in her heart. Her wish, expressed after the death of her son, was fulfilled: "I would also like to die from a small wound in my heart through which my soul will fly away, but I want this to happen far from those whom I love."

The monument was erected approximately at the site of the assassination attempt on the empress. In politics Elizabeth was far-sighted and shrewd, she contributed to the improvement of relations between Austria and the vassal of Hungary. It was thanks to her efforts that the Hungarians acquired equal rights with the Austrians, and in 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Empire was created.

Fountain of geneva (Jet d'Eau, Zhe d'Eau) is an important landmark of the city and one of the largest fountains in the world, 140 m high. The flow rate is 500 liters per second. The jet speed is 200 km / h.
The fountain was originally installed in 1886, slightly downstream of its current location. In 1891, in honor of the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, it was moved to the city for public viewing, while its maximum height was 90 meters.

With its appearance fountain due to the fact that at the end of the 19th century, small factories located around the lake finished their work at about the same time, water consumption dropped sharply, and the pressure in the general hydraulic line increased sharply due to a decrease in water use, which could lead to its rupture. To avoid this, they decided to build a relief valve in the lake, into which water could go out with a sharp increase in pressure. The current fountain was installed in 1951 at a pumping station located in the lake below it in order to use water not from the aqueduct, as it was before, but from the lake itself. Since 2003, the fountain has been operating daily, it is turned off only in strong winds and in frost.

There are many birds , and there are special places from where it is convenient to feed them.

Mont Blanc bridge Is also one of the local attractions.

National monument , as if in the center of a magnificent flower made of colored granite pavement, symbolizing the union of Switzerland (Helvetia) and Geneva (the canton of Geneva joined Switzerland in 1815), is located next to the Mont Blanc bridge and overlooks the lake.

The fashion of portraying the Swiss Confederation as an allegory of a woman emerged in the 17th century, replacing the bull representation popular in the 1580s (Schweitzer Stier).

Here, in the English Garden, there is another symbol of Geneva - flower clock ... The flowers in them are changed every month, and now they are decorated with bright spring primroses, which do not care about rain and gloomy.

The author of the idea of ​​creating the watch is the Swedish scientist Karl Linnaeus, who quite accurately reproduced the flower clock. Ancient Greece... But his clock reflected the biological rhythm of plants and flowers (certain flowers open and close at a certain time: by planting them on one flower bed, you can roughly determine the time). Long before this, the scientist carefully studied floristry, about which a scientific book was even written. In Geneva, some time later, in 1903, a flower clock was installed in which the hand moved. Modern watches have been around since 1955.

The diameter of the composition is 5 meters, the second hand is 2.5 meters. About 6, 5 thousand varieties of flowers are planted annually.

So, we stopped at the Reformation Monument in Bastion Park. If you go from Bastion Park to eastward, let's go to the Museum of the History of Art.

Art History Museum
It exhibits objects and works of Western culture, from antiquity to the present day. The exhibition halls are divided into three sectors: Archeology, Fine Arts and Applied Arts
Walking a little more eastward, we unexpectedly at Place Sturm will see the sparkling domes of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Russian Orthodox Church
The temple was founded on the Feast of the Cross in 1863 and was consecrated three years later on the same day. Built according to the project of St. Petersburg architect D.I.Grimm. In the church, M.A.Vrubel was married to N.I. Zabela, the first daughter of F.M. and A.G. Dostoevsky, Sophia, was baptized and celebrated (she died at the age of three months).
But back to Old city and head towards Rue l'Hotel de Ville. Here is the City Hall (Hotel de Ville) - the seat of the government of the Canton of Geneva

Hotel de Ville
The Cathedral of St. Peter is not far from here (we have already seen it the last time).
Let's look inside, admire the interior decoration, organ, stained-glass windows.

In St. Peter's Cathedral
We will walk along the streets of the Old City and go down the hill on which it is located.

Streets of the Old Town
Here we find ourselves in the central part of the city, on busy streets with numerous shops, restaurants, boutiques, and business centers. There is a tram and other public transport.

Streets of the central part of the city
Crossing them, we come to English garden... From here you can already see the main recognizable symbols, Business Cards Geneva - fountain and flower clock.

Flower clock
The flower clock is a symbol of Geneva. They symbolize the important role of Geneva in the watchmaking industry throughout Switzerland. They were created by the famous scientist Karl Liney in 1755, than he wanted to interest all people in the amazing biorhythm of the life of flowers. The diameter of the watch is five meters, and the length of the second hand is almost two and a half. For the smooth operation of this watch, about 6.5 thousand colors are used. Karl Liney even wrote a book about this miracle creation. In different seasons of the year, the watch has a different color scheme - depending on the flowering plants.

Monument to Helvetia and Geneva
Not far from the clock is a monument symbolizing the entry of Geneva into the Swiss Confederation. This happened in 1815. Two female figures with swords - Helvetia (she also has a shield) and Geneva.

Fountain Jet d "eau
The Geneva Fountain is the tallest fountain in Europe. Its height reaches more than 145 meters, and the weight of water in the air exceeds 7 tons. The fountain throws 500 liters of water into the air per second at a speed of 200 km per hour. It was originally just a safety valve for the city's water supply system. This fountain symbolizes the strength of spirit and aspirations of the Swiss.
From the English Garden we come to the Mont Blanc bridge over the Rhone.


Mont Blanc bridge
This is the most big bridge through Rona.
I counted at least seven bridges across the Rhone, although only four are often indicated (maybe they mean only automobile bridges?). One of them (pedestrian) passes near the building of the hydroelectric power station, which is why it was named Pont de La Machine.

Pont de la machine
A low gray building with large windows in the background is the power plant's turbine room. I do not know if this hydroelectric power station is working now.
Between the described bridges - Mont Blanc and Machine, there is another bridge - Pont des Bergues.
It passes by the Isle of Rousseau, another landmark of Geneva.


Russo Island
The island, named after Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is located in the center of the Rhone. The island was a bastion in the river defense of Geneva. Here is a statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau by Pradee (1834). The island is connected by a passage to the Pont des Bergues bridge.
Without leaving the left-bank part of the city, we will walk through Lenin's places.
There is a medieval tower on Molar Square. She was meant for defense river port.
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Molar street and tower
If you look closely, you can see a bas-relief rectangle on the tower. Here it is in close-up.

A woman symbolizing Geneva (she holds a shield with the city's coat of arms) stretches out her hand over a tired barefoot man. The caption at the top reads "Geneva - the haven of the persecuted." This is not a literal translation, moreover, in the inscription, as far as I can understand in French, a mistake was made: instead of U knocked out V.
In the appearance of a barefoot man, the features of the leader of the world proletariat, V.I.
Lenin lived in Geneva for a total of about 7 years. This, as you know, is longer, and most importantly - more pleasant than in Razliv! He lived in rented apartments. On our very first visit, we were shown a memorial plaque on the house where Lenin lived, I even took a picture under it.

At the memorial plaque
The memorial plaque was opened in 1967 on the street. Plantapeore, 3. It has an inscription "Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov-Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, lived in this house from 1904 to 1905".
At the junction of Kandol and Conseil-General streets there is a café-restaurant "Landolt". We did not fail to take a photo at this place.


Near the Landolt restaurant
Here Lenin often spent time, even gave lectures ... Plekhanov and Bauman, Borovsky and Bonch-Bruevich, Lunacharsky and Litvinov sat at simple tables with scratched or cut initials of visitors (one of them is still kept and shown to guests by the owner of the restaurant). Now the seven-story building has been rebuilt, but the first floor seems to have retained its former appearance. All the same, the Genevan people take great care of history, whatever it may be. Why redo what has passed ?! I am very impressed with this approach.
Well, to complete the story about Lenin's places, one more unexpected picture, captured in Montreux, where I was taken on a fishing trip one weekend. About fishing itself later.

Cafe in Montreux
That's all about Lenin's places.
Now another interesting place, little is known about it. If in the Western Hemisphere the arrival of spring determines the marmot, then in Geneva this function is performed by the oldest plane tree.

The sycamore-predictor of spring
The first leaf that appears on it indicates the onset of spring. In the distance, on the wall of the house, you can see a small square - this is a sundial. There are several such clocks in Geneva. There is also a clock museum ...
Now let's move on to the right bank of the Rhone. Let's go a little to the right from the Mont Blanc bridge along the Mont Blanc embankment. An interesting structure is located here - the Brunswick mausoleum.
Brunswick's mausoleum
The Brunswick Mausoleum on the Place des Alpes is the tomb of the Duke Charles d'Este-Guelph, a linguist, musician, horseman and reveler, a very eccentric man. bury him in earth Geneva. He lived and worked in Paris for many years. An outstanding person, he amassed a very significant fortune. At the same time, he dearly loved Geneva, acted as her patron, donated significant sums to the city. He spent the last three years of his life in Geneva. He also bequeathed his huge fortune to Geneva. In his will, he asked to build him an exact copy of the tomb of the Scaligeri family in Verona (Italy, XIV century). The authorities carried out his will. The sarcophagus with its ashes is located about 5 meters above the ground. Thus, the will of both the patron and the townspeople was fulfilled.
Following further along the embankment, we will come to the Grand Casino. In general, in small Geneva, the word Grand is used very often - and the Grand Theater, and the Grand Casino, and the Grad Passage, and much more, are also grand.
Quay Mont Blanc
Pay attention to the plane trees growing along the embankment. As a result of numerous scraps, they have acquired such a shape that, as the Genevans joke, they grow with their roots up.
A few words about Lake Geneva. Geneva residents call it "Lake Leman" - the largest freshwater lake in Europe. The lake has a crescent shape. Its length is 72 km, width - 13 km, depth - 310 m. The ebb and flow are even noticeable on the lake, it is so great. There are many waterfowl and swans in the lake within the city limits.
UN agencies and other international organizations are located on the right bank of the Rhone.

Palace of Nations
The Palais des Nations is a complex of buildings in the Ariana park. Until 1946, it was used as the headquarters of the League of Nations. In 1966, the European Office of the United Nations was housed in the Palace. Not far away are the Consulate General of Russia (formerly the USSR representative office at the European UN Office) and the WMO headquarters, where I actually came.


WMO building
Photo taken in 1982. On the right is the corner of the building of the International Telecommunication Union. Here I used to change traveller's checks ... The building of the International Labor Organization (ILO) was impressive at that time - a huge blue cube. The USSR was not a member of this organization, but they took me on an excursion, as well as to the Palace of Nations. Now it seems that WMO has acquired a new ultra-modern building.
With this, I will relinquish my duties as a guide, I will tell later about my stay in this city.

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Start of the excursion: Quai du Mont-Blanc

Audio guide summary - guided tours and attractions in Geneva:

Geneva: left bank of the Rhone ( )

1.Mausoleum of the Duke of Braunschweig

Excursion " Attractions in Geneva Begins near the Beau Rivage hotel on the Mont Blanc in 1879, a mausoleum was built for the eccentric and talented Duke Karl of Braunschweig, who lived in Geneva from 1870 to 1883. His will stipulated that “the mausoleum must be installed in the most conspicuous place, and for the construction it is necessary to invite the best sculptors, regardless of the required fee. Therefore, this unique mausoleum of pink granite and marble was built on the embankment, decorated with sculptures and a magnificent bronze equestrian statue of the Duke. At the same time, the stone sarcophagus with the body of the deceased is in the open air, since Karl of Brunswick suffered from claustrophobia and even after his death, the duke did not want to be in a confined space.

2. Quay Mont Blanc

Quai Mont Blanc is one of the most beautiful streets in Geneva. From here, a magnificent view of the delightful Lake Geneva opens, and in clear weather, Mont Blanc is clearly visible from the embankment, surrounded by alpine peaks. If the visibility is good enough, it is not difficult to determine it. This is the profile of the philosopher Karl Marx. The founder of Marxism literally "lies" on his back, peering into the sky.

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and throughout Western Europe.

3.Mont Blanc bridge

From the Mont Blanc bridge, there is simply a magnificent view of the lake and the Jet d'Eau fountain - the symbol of Geneva is impossible to miss. It is the logo of the Tourist Office and the main landmark of Geneva.

The small green island, also visible from the bridge, is a former bastion that was once a boatyard. And nowadays - a city park, in the center of which there is a monument to Jean Jacques Rousseau

4.Molar Square

Molar Square is a very cozy place where, on warm days, everyone can sit comfortably at a cafe table, have a cup of coffee, looking at the people walking.

5 island

This Tower of Tour-de-l "Ile is the only thing that remains of the fortifications on the island. The tower of this island was built by the bishops and, which is traditional for the fortress tower, later became a prison.

A plaque on the wall is dedicated to Caesar's visit here at the beginning of the Gallic Wars in 58.

6.Fountain "Escalade"

The Escalade fountain is erected in memory of the townspeople who repulsed the attack of the army of the Savoy dynasty. The soldiers used ladders - "escalades" to storm the walls of Geneva. Hence the name of the famous festival of Escalades, dedicated to these events, which is celebrated every year in Geneva.

7 bust of Henri Dunant

In the shade of trees, almost in front of the very exit to the square, there is a small bust of the humanist, founder of the International Society of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, who in 1901 won the Nobel Peace Prize. But illness prevented him from leaving Hayden to participate in the awards ceremony.

Since Dunant never created a family, he bequeathed all the funds from the Nobel Committee to the philanthropic organizations in Sweden and Norway.

8.New square

And in the very center of the square rises a statue of General Henri Dufour - the co-founder of the Red Cross, a national hero, and also the creator of the first geographical map of the state of Switzerland.

9.Rath Museum

The Rath Museum was founded in 1826 by the Rath sisters (Jeanne-Françoise et Henriette Rath) and is the oldest museum in Geneva. V guided tours of Geneva we will tell you that the creation of the museum was the fulfillment of the will of their brother Simon Rath. General Simon Rath bequeathed a large sum to his sisters, for which they were to "build something useful for their country that will perpetuate his name." The sisters built a museum.

10.Grand Theater. (Geneva Opera)

The building was created in the image of the Paris Opera House Garnier in 1879, designed by the architect Goss.

The Bolshoi Theater in Geneva (this name was given in 1910) opened with the production of the opera "Wilhelm Tel" by the Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini. This opera is considered a patriotic work of Switzerland.

11. Building of the Conservatory of Music

The Geneva Conservatory is the oldest of Switzerland's conservatories, founded in 1835 by the famous philanthropist Franus Bartoloni. Today, the Conservatory unites the Geneva School of Music, where music lovers study, as well as the Geneva Higher School of Music, where future professional musicians are trained.

The Conservatory also includes the Center for Early Music and the Faculty of Music and Rhythm.

12.Patek Philippe Museum

The Geneva Museum of the legendary Patek Philippe watch company could easily be mistaken for one of the departments of the Hermitage or the Louvre.

An interesting museum dedicated to the history of watchmaking, jewelry art and the watch "Patek Philippe" itself. The building that houses the Patek Philippe Museum today has a long and very interesting history, which we will tell you in our guided tours of Geneva.

13 Geneva University

High gates on the left side of the square lead to Bastion Park. Once it was the Botanical Park of Geneva, in which about 50 rare species of trees still grow. On the alleys and lawns between the trees, local lovers of intellectual leisure are fighting chess, each figure is almost 70 centimeters high.

In the depths of the park is the Einar Palace, where the complex of buildings of the University of Geneva is located.

The university was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a Protestant higher theological educational institution.

14 Wall of the Reformation

At one time, Geneva became a haven for the founder of the Protestant Reformation - John Calvin, as well as his associates. True, at first he expelled Calvin from the city because of his too tough position. But in 1541, after his return, Geneva turned into a kind of "reformatory Rome". It was here that supporters of the ideas of Calvinism came from all over Europe.

The monument was unveiled in 1917 along an old 16th century defensive bastion, just below the walls of the Old Town.

The opening of the monument was timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the University of Geneva, as well as the 400th anniversary of the birth of the father of the Swiss Reformation, Jean Calvin. The material for the stone memorial, the height of which is 10 meters, was the dismantled blocks of the former city fortifications.

15. Church of St. Herman

According to historians and workers of the city archive, this is one of the oldest churches and was built in the 13th century on the site of an ancient temple (fragments of the altar opened here date back to the 5th century).

Partially rebuilt after a devastating fire that nearly destroyed the Old Town in 1344, the church was almost completely restored in the 15th century.

16. Celebrity homes are special sights in Geneva.

A commemorative plaque on one of the buildings marks the place in Geneva where Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the most famous philosopher and writer, was once born.

Currently, a small museum dedicated to the writer is open in this building. On the second floor of the old building there is an audiovisual exhibition about the life and work of the great citizen of Geneva, Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Several rooms in another house were occupied by the studio of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler, one of the largest representatives of the Art Nouveau style - an artistic trend in art, most at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries.

V guided tours of Geneva You will learn that the Argentine poet, writer and publicist, Jorge Luis Borges, lived nearby along the rue Grande Rue. In the 1920s, Borges became one of the founders of literary avant-garde, characterized by an experimental approach to artistic creation, in Hispanic Latin American poetry.

17 Town Hall Building

The City Hall or City Hall, decorated with the Geneva flag with the imperial eagle and the key, was built in the 16th and 17th century. The oldest part of this building is the "Baudet" Tower (translated as "donkey" tower) - the structure of 1455. Instead of steps to the building, a kind of inclined cobblestone road was made. The seat of the Geneva government has been the political heart of Geneva for over five hundred years. An incredible number of contracts and agreements were signed here.

18.Arsenal

The Arsenal is a museum where you can always get acquainted with a variety of historical relics and sights of Switzerland.

Arsenal is now a city archive. In former times, the building was a city barn, then an arsenal. Access to the entrance to the Arsenal is guarded by 5 Genoese guns of the 17-18 centuries located right at the entrance, which were once removed directly from the city walls.

19.House Tavel

House Tavel looks more like a city castle.

"House Tavel" is considered the brightest example of medieval urban architecture in Switzerland.

After the Tavel clan broke off, the house, after changing several owners, was bought by the city community in 1963. Today it houses the exposition of the City Museum of the History of Geneva.

20.Cathedral of St. Peter

St. Peter's Cathedral is the highest dominant feature of the city center. This cathedral is built on the ruins left in ancient times by the Roman conquerors. To the north of the current site of the cathedral, the first church existed, dating from around 250 AD. The hill on which the cathedral is located has been a site of permanent, regular buildings since ancient times.

The Cathedral building is a strange mixture of architectural styles dominated by Romanesque and Gothic.

21 Calvin's audience

This temple was built in the 5th century near St. Peter's Basilica. The auditorium was essentially a small chapel that, during the early Reformation, became a famous Protestant preaching site.

22. Place Burg-de-Four

The old town square of Bourg de Four is a picturesque square, one of the busiest in the city. It appeared in the era of the Roman Empire at the crossroads and served as a forum. During the Middle Ages, fairs were held here and residents gathered to discuss the latest news.

On sunny days, regardless of the season, small tables are set up on the square, at which Geneva residents and guests of the city enjoy a cup of coffee.

23. Calvin College

Collège Calvin is the oldest public high school in Geneva and, historically, one of the oldest schools in the world. The college was founded back in 1559 by John Calvin.

24.English Park

Walking along the alleys of the English Park, pay attention to one of the main sights of Geneva- the famous flower clock, which is located on the shores of Lake Geneva - one of the symbols of the city.

The diameter of the watch is 5 meters, and the length of the second hand is 2.5 meters. This luxurious flower bed was created in 1955 and symbolizes the special role of the city of Geneva in the watchmaking industry of the whole Switzerland.

JOURNEY!!

Well!! Let's try to write about my September trip.
Let's omit the boring road to Moscow, a sleepless night at Domodedovo airport .., Check-in, landing, flight !! How not fun and very boring!

We landed in Geneva early in the morning .. Swiss company - Schwiss .. Expensive and without a Russian translator .. Yes, the weather is still the same - drizzling rain and almost no visibility! How, after all, a lot depends on the weather during the trip ..
Loaded into a temporary bus - there are no crossbars on the window - will it be permanent - the question is open !! (was not) Location 11.
It is very good that there are few people - 34 tourists versus 54 at most !!
You can sit alone !!
Geneva is the administrative center of the canton of the same name in Switzerland.

Surrounded by the Alps, the city is located on the shores of Lake Geneva, where the Rhone River begins its journey. Another river that flows through Geneva is the Arve, a tributary of the Rhone.

The first Celtic settlement on the site of the present city was formed several centuries before our era. When the Romans came here in 120 BC, they got a fairly developed settlement.

(in the photo - some old house and a lot of biker "cars" - a congress, perhaps .. The Roman Empire made an outpost out of it to repel the attacks of the Celtic-Germanic tribes. Later, Geneva came under the rule of Burgundy, then the German king. In 1387 Geneva became an independent city, and became part of the Swiss Federation in 1526. Napoleon tried to change the borders by annexing the city to France in 1798.

But after the overthrow of the French emperor, Geneva returned to Switzerland in 1815.
Modern Geneva is a major cultural, financial and political center

not only Switzerland, but also the world community. The headquarters of such international organizations as the UN, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and a number of others are located here. There are also the main offices of some tobacco, chemical, electronic, trading corporations with world names.

This, in fact, determined the economic orientation of Geneva - the service sector is developed at the highest level in the city. And among the enterprises, one can especially note the production of famous Swiss watches and perfumes. It also hosts the most significant automotive exhibitions that determine global trends in the automotive industry and dictate auto fashion.

They drove around Geneva .. I don't remember anything, almost - some huge chair, (The monumental sculpture "Broken Chair", made by the carpenter Louis Geneve and the artist Daniel Berset, is located in Geneva. It is made of wood and has a height of about 12 meters),

fountain square, (see photo above) .. Although the chair is also located in the fountain square ..

reformation square ..

In the photo - the Mont Blanc bridge.

I don’t like cities and don’t remember anything about them !!

Finally - free time - I fly to the embankment (unlike the others, there is a shop in the SOOP).

Scurrying boats and boats ..

Everything around is gray !! Gray fountain in the water. Gray lighthouse .. And no one was given! (on the way back everything was different. Sunny and clear).

Bridge of Mont Blanc over the Rhone. The Mont Blanc bridge is one of the four bridges over the Rhone, overlooking the symbol of the city - the Geneva Fountain, the height of the water stream from which is 140 meters, and the speed of water release is 200 km / h.

From the Mont Blanc embankment, in good weather, a magnificent view of the Mont Blanc mountain opens,

in honor of which the city embankment got its name. You see white hills in the distance on the horizon - this is Mont Blanc ..

Swinging from moving cars. ... Different flags on the side of the road !! Behind, on the right bank, in the English Park, there is a flower clock. To the left of me, passing behind Rona, is Rousseau's islet - beautiful, romantic, small - a quick photo from afar !!

(The island of Rousseau is one of the attractions of Geneva, located in the middle of the Rhone, just below the Mont Blanc bridge. In ancient times it was intended to defend the city and protect against enemy attacks. In the 16th century, a military bastion was located on its territory. Soon there was a legend that the island was a favorite place of the famous philosopher and writer Jean Jacques Rousseau, where he often walked and completely immersed himself in his thoughts.

In 1955, the island of Rousseau was connected to the coast using a small bridge, after which they began to equip it as a park and turned into a favorite place for walking both locals and many tourists and guests of Geneva. The island is very popular, because many do not miss the opportunity to visit a small piece of land with wonderful nature, flora and fauna.

From here, the viewer has a magnificent view of the river and the embankment. The island can be accessed from the Pont des Bergus bridge, which connects the Cuadu General Guisan and Cuay des Bergus embankments. Walking around the island, you can watch ducks and swans in this secluded corner of nature.)

Cafes, moorings. Flowerbeds, monument to Sisi ..

(The Sisi monument is located in Geneva on the Mont Blanc quay. This monument was erected to Elizabeth, Empress of Austria and wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I.

In 1898, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria-Hungary, arrived in Geneva, in the city where she was destined to die at the hands of the Italian Luigi Lucheni.

For all the noble deeds that Elizabeth managed to do, for her love and devotion to the people, she was awarded a monument on the Mont Blanc embankment. The monument was erected almost at the place where the empress was killed. Now Sisi looks at the people passing the main street Avenida Monumental, and every day tourists put fresh cut flowers in her hands.) And below in the photo is the green lawn of the park on the embankment, not far from the flower clock ...

I got to the clock already on the way back to Moscow ..

The peculiarity of the flower clock in Geneva is that in their work, in addition to the usual mechanisms, the natural biorhythms of plants are used. Simply put, the exact time on the dial (by the way, the diameter of the flower clock in Geneva is more than five meters) is shown not only by hands, but also by plants! For this, the flowers in the flower beds are planted in the order in which they bloom, according to their biological clock. Of course, all these changes do not occur every second, but it will still be very interesting to observe natural phenomena and the work of mechanisms.

... Everything is fast here, in these bus travels .. I passed the bridge, came out to the embankment from the other side - the weather improved a little - even the sun peeped out, and everything around became different !!

Bright and cheerful .. Flowers, fountain ..

A myriad of yachts .. But if they were yachts ..

Boats with protruding empty masts without sails. And their habitat looks like clouds of sticks in the water !! Here is this landscape with "sticks". Vacationers bicycles .. Vacationers people ..

When there is a lot of something, there is no beauty !! It would be better to have several yachts, but in all their glory .. So a bouquet of many flowers loses a lot to a bouquet with their minimum .. but beautifully decorated with greenery ..

I spent the rest of my free time on the embankment !!

Gathering at the monument - the mausoleum.

The mausoleum of Duke Karl of Braunschweig is located on the right bank of the Rhone in Franklin Memorial Park.

(The duke was originally from Germany, but was expelled from the country, after which he found refuge in Switzerland. Suffering from claustrophobia, he feared that he would end up in a confined space even after death.

The duke bequeathed his entire fortune (22 million francs in gold) to Geneva with the condition that he be buried at a height of 6 meters from the ground, in a crypt, made in the image of the tomb of the Scaliger family in Verona.

The money bequeathed by Charles was enough not only for the construction of an excellent mausoleum, but also for the construction of the Opera Grand Theater and the Golden Gate of the Parc de Bastion. The conscientious Swiss still look after the duke's mausoleum, as Charles noted in the terms of his will). Historical information from the net ..