2 Best Sights in Geneva, Switzerland

Background Illustration for Sights

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.

Le Mur des Réformateurs

Vieille Ville Fodor's Choice

Conceived on a grand scale and erected between 1909 and 1917, this solemn 325-by-30-foot swath of granite pays homage to the 16th-century religious movement spearheaded by Guillaume Farel, Jean Calvin, Théodore de Bèze, and John Knox. Smaller statues of major Protestant figures, bas-reliefs, and inscriptions connected with the Reformation flank the lifelike giants as they hover over Bern, Geneva, and Edinburgh's coats of arms. Roger Williams is surrounded by Pilgrims praying on the deck of the Mayflower, and near Oliver Cromwell is the 1689 presentation of the Bill of Rights to King William and Queen Mary by the English Houses of Parliament. The Reformation's—and Geneva's—motto, Post Tenebras Lux (After Darkness, Light), spreads over the whole. The location is just below the Vieille Ville.

Parc des Bastions, Geneva, 1204, Switzerland

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Monument Brunswick

Les Pâquis

Charles d'Este-Guelph, the famously eccentric (and deposed) duke of Brunswick, died in Geneva in 1873 and left his vast fortune to the city on condition that his mausoleum, the Gothic design of which is based on the 14th-century Scaligeri tombs in Verona, be given prominence. No one is sure why his sarcophagus faces inland.

Bounded by Rue des Alpes, Quai du Mont-Blanc, and Rue Adhémar-Fabri, Geneva, 1201, Switzerland

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