Switzerland: Geneva and Annecy 2017

GENEVA AND ANNECY SWITZERLAND

Holiday Inn Express Airport (Below) where I stayed during my Geneva visit well suited my purpose. My review was posted by Expedia on the their web site as follows: "Nice and close to the airport and public transportation into Geneva. Wonderful buffet with many choices. The staff in the cafeteria and the front desk were very helpful and accommodating. Everyone was friendly. Good stay for the money, too." The construction of an addition was underway while I was there, but did not cause any problems.

Map (Below) I accessed my Geneva sites through Keytours in the City Center. For transportation to and from their headquarters I used free passes provided by Holiday Inn Express Airport. The train traveled non-stop to/from the Airport to the City Center terminal. Bus #5 provided the same service, but with scheduled stops along the way.

The Keytours guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. The tour vans and buses were modern and very comfortable. I sat in the first row that enabled me to take photos from inside the bus. I combined photos of my Friday and Saturday tours into one.

Photo by Fred Wulff

The history of La Vieille Ville, Geneva's Old Town (Below), can be traced back 2,000 years. The Old Town is built on a hillside south of the Rhone River. The area has picturesque narrow meandering cobble stone streets lined with historic grey-stone buildings, which now hold boutiques, sidewalk cafes and restaurants. 

Photo by Alexey M. (Creative Commons Attribution-Share 

Alike 4.0 International license, Wikipedia)

Our tour started with sites on those on the north side of the river. 

First off we saw the UNICEF Building (Below).

Next  up was the Red Cross Building (Below). 

The Red Cross was founded in Geneva in 1865. (Photo by Fred Wulff)

Maison Tavel (meaning Tavel House),is the oldest house in Geneva, built in the 12th century by the Maison family. In 1334, the house was reconstructed following a devastating fire. In 1963, the house was purchased by the city of Geneva and remade into the museum of history of Geneva. It is easily accessible on foot from shopping street Rue du Marche and only a few meters away from St. Peter's Cathedral. 

(Photo by Fred Wulff)

World Council of Churches Ecumenical Building (Below)

Broken Chair on the Place des Nations (Below), is a monumental sculpture in wood by the Swiss artist Daniel Berset, It is constructed of 5.5 tons of wood and is 39 feet high. It depicts a giant chair with a broken leg and stands across the street from the Palace of Nation.  It symbolizes opposition to land mines  and cluster bombs, and acts as a reminder to politicians and others visiting Geneva. I took a photo up close of the chair leg that had been "wounded".

(Photo by Fred Wulff)

Backside of the United Nations Building with flags of the nations (Below).

The Palais des Nations (Below), the main building of the United Nations Office at Geneva. In 2012 alone, the Palace of Nations hosted more than 10,000 intergovernmental meetings.

Photo by de:Benutzer:Filzstift (Public Domain)

Parc Des Eaux Vives with California Redwoods on the left (Photo by Fred Wulff)

Waterfront (Below) where river and lake meet. French mountains on other side of  the lake.

(Photo by Fred Wulff)

Perhaps the most recognizable landmark in Geneva and the site, which features on the city’s tourist, leaflets. The jet d'Eau (Below) is a large fountain, which spurts up out of Lake Geneva at the point where the lake empties into Rhone River. It is also one of the tallest fountains in the world. The fountain shoots up in a single jet of water 140 meters straight up into the air and is powered by two 500kW pumps from a submerged pumping station. The water leaves the base of the fountain at a speed of 200km an hour.

Photo in public domain (Siqbal at English Wikipedia) 

Flower Clock (Below) as viewed from the bus (Photo by Fred Wulff)

The Flower Clock (Below) was created in 1955 as a symbol of the city's watchmakers, 

and a dedication to nature.

The last remnant of a medieval castle s the tower. The castle had been built in 13th century to watch and repel invaders. In the 16th century, a clock has been set up on the tower. The castle was destroyed in 1677, only leaving the tower untouched. At the bottom of the tower, a statue of a man with chained feet represents Philibert Berthelier, hero of  Geneva's independence, tortured and beheaded at this place.

Photo by Edwin Lee (Creative Commons

Attribution 2.0 Generic license, Wikipedia)

(Below) Brunswick Monument

(Photo by Fred Wulff)

(Below) French Second Empire style or Mansard style

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Trolley ride through Old Town

Photo by Fred Wulff

Entering Parc Des Bastions  

(Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) University of Geneva, which was founded by John Calvin 

Photo by Fred Wulff

The Wall is in the grounds of the University of Geneva, and was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Calvin's birth and the 350th anniversary of the university's establishment. It is built into the old city walls of Geneva, and the monument's location there is designed to represent the fortifications', and therefore the city of Geneva's, integral importance to the Reformation.

During the Reformation, Geneva was the center of Calvinism, and its history and heritage since the sixteenth century has been closely linked to that of Protestantism. Due to the close connections to that theology, the individuals most prominently depicted on the Wall were Calvinists. Inaugurated in 1909, it was the culmination of a contest launched to transform that part of the park. 

At the center of the monument (Below), four 5 m-tall statues
of Calvinism's main proponents are depicted:

Close-ups of Wall by Reformation by Roland Zumbühl 

(Picswiss, Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License, 

Version 1.2) 

· William Farel (1489–1565)

· John Calvin (1509–1564)

· Theodore Beza (1519–1605)
· John Knox (c.1513–1572)

Farel was forced to flee to Switzerland because of controversy that was aroused by his writings against the use of images in Christian worship. He spent time at Zurich with Zwingli and at Strasbourg, with Martin Bucer. 

Note: It was William Farel who convinced John Calvin to stay in "Godless" Geneva and help him. Calvin later recounted: "(Farel) said that God would surely curse my peace if I held back from giving help at a time of such great need. Terrified by his words, and conscious of my own timidity and cowardice, I gave up my journey and attempted to apply whatever gift I had in defense of my faith." Farel is most often remembered for having persuaded John Calvin to remain in Geneva in 1536, and for persuading him to return there in 1541 after their expulsion in 1538. They influenced the government of Geneva to the point that it became the "Protestant Rome", where Protestants took refuge and non-Protestants were driven out. Together with Calvin, Farel worked to train missionary preachers who spread the Protestant cause to other countries, and especially to France.

To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 m-tall statues of:

· Frederick William of Brandenburg (1620 – 1688)

· William the Silent (1533 – 1584)

· Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572)

To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 m-tall statues of:

· Roger Williams (1603–1684)

· Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)

· Stephen Bocskai (1557–1606)

(Below) Building next to Calvin's church was for housing persecuted refugees who came to Geneva to become trained missionaries go calvinism

Photo by Fred Wulff

St. Pierre (Peter) Cathedral (Below) is famous for being a place where Jan Calvin was staying and worked. You can see the triangular stool, where he reportedly used to sit, just next to the Pulpit. It was begun under the prince-bishop of the Diocese of Geneva, around 1160. It was originally built in Romanesque style and was completed a hundred years later in Gothic style. A Neo-Classical main facade was added in the 18th century. There is no entrance fee for the St. Peter's Cathedral. Interiors of the Cathedral were vastly demolished in 1535, when Geneva's residents accepted the Reformation and destroyed all the altars inside the cathedral, all the statues and most of the paintings in a rage. John Calvin preached sermons here from 1536 to 1564, and his followers stripped out the altars, paintings, and statuary, leaving only the carved capitals and the stained glass from its original decoration. Luckily the Pulpit and some paintings at the tops of the pillars were preserved.

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Interior of St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached.

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Altar area

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Pipe Organs in back of the cathedral 

Photo by Fred Wulff

On the north side of the St. Pierre Cathedral, just next to it on the left, is the Musee International de la Reformed, or International Museum of Reformation (Below), Geneva, portraying the reformation times, ideas, lives of the common people and discussing about the theology and history

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Archives of Geneva

Photo by Fred Wulff

ANNECY 

Our Saturday tour started off in the morning for a drive to Annecy.

Photo by Fred Wulff

Photo by Fred Wulff

Switching from counts of Geneva’s dwelling in the 13th century, to counts of Savoy’s in the 14th century, the city became the capital of the Savoy province in 1434 during the prerogative of Genevois-Nemours until 1659. Its role increased in 1536, during the Calvinist Reformation of Geneva, while the bishop took refuge in Annecy. St Francis de Sales gave Annecy its role of advanced citadel of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The annexation of Savoy will link the city to France in 1860.

The territory of Savoy was annexed to France in 1792 under the French First Republic, before being returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815. Savoy, along with the county of Nice, was finally annexed to France under the Second French Empire in 1860, as part of a political agreement (Treaty of Turin) brokered between the French emperor Napoleon III and King Victor Emmanuel II of the Kingdom of Sardinia that began the process of unification of Italy. The last Duke of Savoy, Victor Emmanuel II, became the first King of Italy. So when visiting Annecy (of Savoy) on our tour we were in France

Actually, Geneva today (lower left on map) is literally surrounded by France 

and the French language is quite universal.

So many Catholics fled Geneva to Annecy that the city became a city of churches.
As we approached Annecy we cold see the steeple of a church in the skyline (very center of photo below).

Photo by Fred Wulff

 Make the steep walk up to the Basilique de la Visitation, high to the south of Annecy. The tower of this 19th-century church can be seen for miles around and possesses one of the best local views of the city. Inside are the tombs of two saints, Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal.

Photo by Gio la Gamb (Creative Commons, Wikipedia)

Church St. Francis de Sales (Below), “The Jewel of Savoy”. In 1602, when Bishop Granier died, Francis de Sales was consecrated Bishop of Geneva, but resided in Annecy (now part of modern-day France) because Geneva remained under Calvinist control. Vincent de Paul met Francis de Sales in Paris in 1618 or 1619. Francis de Sales had a profound influence on Vincent. There was a large prominent statue of Francis de Sale by the parking lot where we were to return to our bus. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo.

Photo by Fred Wulff

Annecy Cathedral (Below) was erected at the beginning of the 16th century as a chapel for a Franciscan priory. During the French Revolution, the building was used as a temple of the Goddess Reason.

Photo by Fred Wulff

(Below) Saint Maurice
It is the oldest church in Annecy
and was originally built as a chapel of a Dominican convent in 1422

Photo by Fred Wulff

Palace de I’Isle (Below) Seemingly straight out of a fairytale, this landmark’s history dates back to the 12th century. Now a local history museum, it was once a prison, mint, courthouse, and Lord’s residence. Most just stop to take a picture of the outside. Indeed, it is one of France’s most photographed attractions.

Photo by Fred Wulff

While the others toured the castle and walked up steps, Fred walked around Old Town on his own

Photo by Fred Wulff

Photo by Fred Wulff

Photo by Fred Wulff

Our agreed upon get-together spot was the Norte Dame Cathedral (Below)

Photo by Fred Wulff

I decided to have a glass of beer at the cafe in the castle Palace de I’Isle (Below) before returning to the bus.

Photo by Fred Wulff

THE END