Geneva Day 2 2016

On our second day of our first stay we took a bus into the centre of Geneva and got off at a small bus station.

We noticed there was a clock tower here and a statue. I have since discovered the statue was of Philibert Berthelier who was born around 1465 and died on August 23rd, 1519. Berthelier was strongly opposed to the Duke of Savoy meddling in Geneva's affairs and called for a rebellion against him. He was later forced to flee the city. In February 1518 he returned to Geneva from exile and began a series of secret meetings with members of the Huguenots for the purpose of overthrowing Savoy rule. He was arrested on August 23rd, 1519, and tried for treason against the Duke of Savoy. He was found guilty and beheaded the same day. Berthelier is considered a hero in Switzerland.

clock tower and statue.

Statue of Philibert Berthelier.

Statue near the bus station.

While some explore history, others laze around!

Geneva's old town is located on a hill so we began to climb up to have a look at it. We passed a fountain, a lovely old antique book shop, cafes, restaurants and shops. At the top of the hill we reached the Old Arsenal. This has a collection of mosaics on its walls depicting Caesar’s arrival in Geneva in 58 B.C. and a number of old cannons. Across the road from the Old Arsenal stands Geneva's Hotel d' Ville or Town Hall. This building is home to the Alabama Room in which the first Geneva Convention was adopted on August 22nd 1864. There is a plaque about this on one of the inner courtyard walls. The League of Nations held its first assembly here on November 15th, 1920. The origins of the International Red Cross Organization can also be traced back to events that took place here.

Detail of a fountain.

Antique book shop.

Peter in the Old Arsenal.

Mosaic of Caesar in the Old Arsenal.

Geneva's Town Hall.

Geneva's Town Hall.

Street at the top of the old town.

Also on top of this hill stands the Cathedral of St. Peter. This was the church where John Calvin gave his sermons during the middle of the sixteenth century. The origins of this church date back to around 1160. It has been extended or rebuilt at various times and is in a mixture of different styles. roman remains have been unearthed beneath it.

St Peter's Cathedral.

Behind the church we found a little park built out on a terrace. We sat down here to have some lunch which we had purchased earlier from the
Co-op at the bottom of the hill. There were lovely views over the rooftops of Geneva from here.

View from the terrace.

View from the terrace.

View from the terrace.

We then began to descend out of the old town via the Place du Bourg-de-Four. This area once lay outside the city walls. It was home to Geneva's market. Now it is home to many restaurants. It was not looking its best when we visited due to renovation of several buildings. We left the old town on a detour to find the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2016 this was totally covered over for renovation so was a great disappointment. We did not check it out in 2017.

Place du Bourg-de-Four.

Next we walked to Bastion Park to see the Reformation Wall. The one hundred metre long Reformation Wall commemorates the major figures of the Protestant Reformation, such as Guillaume Farel, Jean Calvin, Théodore de Bèze and John Knox. Their statues dominate the centre of the wall. Bastions Park itself is a lovely place for a stroll or a rest from sightseeing. It borders parts of the University of Geneva. We noticed a statue here dedicated to Henri Dunant. Henri Dunant was born in 1828 and died in 1910. He was the founder of the Red Cross, and the first ever person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. There are several statues in Geneva in honour of Dunant. There was also a fountain celebrating David's victory over Goliath.

The Reformation Wall -Central Figures.

Detail of the wall.

Peter in front of the wall.

Statue honouring Henri Dunant.

David and Goliath.

We exited Bastions Park into the Place de Neuve. Here you can find the Conservatory of Music, the Grand Opera Theatre, the Rath Museum, which hosts temporary art exhibitions, and the Victory Concert Hall. An equestrian statue of General Henri Dufour can be found in the centre of the square. Henri Dufour together with Henri Dunant, lawyer Gustave Moynier, and Doctors Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir founded the Red Cross Organization.

General Henri Dufour.

Heri Dunant again.

After looking around the Place de Neuve, we climbed back up into the old town via the Treille Promenade. This was once an artillery post, but nowadays it is a popular and beautiful viewpoint over Geneva. It has what many consider to be the longest wooden bench in the world. This bench dates from 1767. It is 413 feet long, and made of 180 wooden boards. Here we also found a statue of Charles Pictet de Rochemont, born 21st September 1755, died 28th December 1824. He was a statesman and diplomat who prepared the declaration of Switzerland's permanent neutrality which was ratified in 1815.

View from the Treille Promenade.

Peter and the world's longest park bench.

Charles Pictet de Rochemont.

Back in the old town, we popped into the Museum Tavel. This is the oldest private dwelling in Geneva. It was destroyed by fire in 1334 and was subsequently rebuilt by the wealthy Tavel family. Centuries later in 1963 it was acquired by the City of Geneva and converted into a six story museum. The museum is free to enter. I must confess I am not much of a museum fan and I went in purely to look at the inside of the building rather than the exhibits.

Maison Tavel.

Garden of Maison Tavel.

Maison Tavel.

We then came back down the hill from the old town and headed to the English Gardens. We had a look at the famous floral clock and the central fountain. In 1955 Geneva created the biggest floral clock in the world to honour its clock and watch making tradition. The floral clock looks different at different times of the year depending on what flowers are in bloom at that time. The bronze Four Seasons Fountain in the centre of the park was sculpted by Alexis Andre. There is a boat named le Bateau Genève moored next to these gardens. This boat was made famous on September 10th 1898, when the Austrian Empress Sissi, whose statue we encountered earlier, managed to drag herself here after being stabbed in the heart by an Italian anarchist. She died on this boat. In honour of this tragedy the boat is now a welfare association, offering counselling and free meals for the people in need.

We had bought some drinks to cool down as it was a very hot day. Every shady seat in the park was occupied so we ended up just sitting on the grass.

Floral clock.

The four seasons fountain.

Le Bateau Geneve.

We then boarded three of the little yellow shuttle boats, known locally as Mouettes, we could use for free with our travel pass. We used route two, three and four, which enabled us to crisscross the lake enjoying beautiful views and ending up at Perle du Lac from where we walked to the headquarters of the United Nations. There are many international organizations in this area. We passed the World Trade Organization and Unicef among others before reaching the U.N.

The United Nations Office in Geneva is the second-largest of the four main office sites of the United Nations. It is second in size only to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The other two UN offices are located in Vienna and Nairobi.

The UN Geneva occupies the Palais des Nations building which was originally constructed for the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938. This building was subsequently expanded in the early 1950s and late 1960s. There are lovely frescoes on the outside walls of the UN building. Across from the building in the Place des Nations stands a huge sculpture of a chair with a broken leg. This sculpture was commissioned by the non-governmental organisation Handicap International to draw attention to victims of landmines and gain support for the Ottawa Treaty which tried to ban landmines. It was created by Swiss sculptor Daniel Berset. The sculpture is 12 metres high and weighs 5.5 tonnes. It was supposed to be placed in front of the UN temporarily, but became so popular it has never been removed. The Place des Nations also has many dancing fountains.

Unicef.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

Paintings outside the UN.

UN Headquarters.

The broken Chair.

The Broken Chair and the UN Headquarters.

Wandering around this area we came to a statue of Muhatma Ghandi. It is located in Ariana Park and was sculpted by Gautam Pal‘s in 2007 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Indian-Swiss friendship. We continued past this statue to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Muhatma Ghandi.

ICRC Headquarters.

Deciding this was enough sightseeing for one day we then headed for a bus to food and home.