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The République et Canton de Genève (Republic and Canton of Geneva) commands sweeping views of the French Alps and the French Jura from its fortuitous position at the southwestern tip of Lac Léman. The water flows straight through the city center and into the River Rhône en route to Lyon and the Mediterranean, leaving museums, shops, restaurants, and parks to jostle for space on its history-laden south shore, known as Rive Gauche. Busy shopping streets underline the hilltop Vieille Ville, the Plaine de Plainpalais lies to its west, and Eaux-Vives stretches along the quays to the east.
The quartier international (International Area), the Gare Cornavin, and sumptuous waterfront hotels dominate the north shore, or Rive Droite. St-Gervais, just north of the Ponts de l'Ile, was once a watchmaking quarter. Les Pâquis, a mix of artists, ethnic communities, and scrappy pleasure seekers, extends north from the Pont du Mont-Blanc. The International Area, on the outer edge of the city, is a short tram ride from Gare Cornavin; all other neighborhoods are easily toured on foot.
Reformed services in English, Italian, and Dutch made this simple Gothic structure, built in the 15th century on the site of two prior churches, a potent international gathering place for 16th-century Protestant refugees. The Scots reformer John Knox preached here from 1556 to 1559 while he translated the Bible into English, initiating the Presbyterian Church; Calvin and his successors used the space to teach theology. Today, the auditorium is still used for Protestant worship.
A stylistic hybrid scarred by centuries of religious upheaval and political turmoil, this imposing cathedral somehow survived the ages with its dignity intact. The massive neoclassical facade was an 18th-century addition meant to shore up 12th-century Romanesque-Gothic walls; stained-glass windows, the Duke of Rohan's tomb, a few choir stalls, and the 15th-century Chapel of the Maccabees hint at lavish alternatives to Calvin's plain chair. Fifteenth-century bells and bird's-eye city views reward those who climb the 157 steps to the top of the North Tower.
This pristine 15th-century sanctuary served as a Protestant temple, a butcher's warehouse, a foundry, and a government meeting hall before Napoléon's troops returned it to Catholicism in 1803. The second chapel on the left maps a structural lineage that began in AD 400, and the steeple dates from the 14th century. Today's whitewashed walls, strategic lighting, and stained glass frame weekly classical music concerts in summer. Attending a concert or a service (the latter occurs at 10 on Sunday) is usually your only chance to see the inside.
