Geneva is the second most populated city and the second financial center of Switzerland after Zurich, located where Lake Geneva flows back into the Rhone river. Commercial, banking, industrial, intellectual and university center extends to the south-west end of Lake Geneva, on the two banks of the Rhone, in the heart of a closed basin surrounded by mountains (all in French territory: the Voirons, the Salève, the Mont de Sion, the Vuache and the Jura mountain range).

La vieille-ville (historical part of the city), consisting of the city center and Saint-Gervais districts, was formed on the top and the surroundings of a hill on the left bank of the lake. This hill has been a natural refuge protected from the lake, the Rhone, the Arve, the marshes and the moats to the east since prehistoric times. The city expanded during the nineteenth century, after the demolition of the fortifications (1850-1880).

In the bay of Geneva the pierres du Niton are visible, two rocks that emerge from the lake and date back to the last ice age. These are two erratic and very stable boulders; for this reason one of the two was chosen by General Guillaume-Henri Dufour as a reference point for the average height of the lake and subsequently adopted for the calculation of all altitudes in Switzerland.

In 2000, the city received the Wakker prize of the Swiss National Heritage Association for its plan to modernize the banks of the Rhone and the surrounding urban environment. The Fil du Rhône project was then progressively put into operation.

According to the Federal Office of Statistics, Geneva has an area of ​​15.88 km. 92.1% of this area corresponds to inhabited areas or infrastructures, 1.5% are agricultural areas, 3.1% woodland areas and 3.2% unproductive areas.

The first inhabitants of the area in the protohistoric period would have been the Ligurians, while in historical times, when they arrived, the Romans found the Allobrogi Gauls. Occupied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, it became a fortified settlement, part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis.

Monuments and places of interest

Geneva’s main tourist attractions include the Reformation Wall, the flower clock, the Brunswick Monument to Charles II, the Jet d’eau (Water Jet) and the Palais des Nations, which houses the European headquarters of the United Nations .

One of the most visited monuments in the city is the Cathedral of San Pietro, located at the top of the old city. An underground museum presents the evolution of the site and the introduction of Christianity in the city. The International Museum of the Reformation, located in the Maison Mallet, presents the history of the Protestant Reformation and its major exponents. An underground corridor, reopened for the opening of the museum of the Reformation, connects the two buildings. The entire site, which includes the cathedral and its towers, the museum and the Auditorium of Calvino, is called the Éspace Saint-Pierre and is one of the major cultural offerings of the city.

Another place appreciated by tourists is the old town itself, which preserves the typical architecture of an 18th century European city. Numerous famous people have lived in this part of the city, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Franz Liszt and Jorge Luis Borges.

In any case, the symbol of Geneva remains the jet of water, located at the end of the Eaux-Vives bank. The jet culminates at about 140 meters in height and is visible from a good part of the city.