Walking the Streets of Geneva

Saturday morning we were ready to investigate the old town section of Geneva, but outside was a soaking rain so we settled down in the hostel lobby to read. It wasn't long before the skies cleared and by 10 AM we were on our way.

The old town is built on a hill. We knew St. Peter's Cathedral would be near the top and so we began to climb past a monument and on up a cobblestone street.

Looking back we could see this clock tower.

As we neared the top we couldn't tell which narrow street to follow, but a waiter pointed us in the right direction. 

We turned a corner and suddenly a tower was visible...

then a large square, and finally the front of this weird cathedral.
 

Though the current cathedral was built between 1150 and 1230, it has been added to since then.

This has been the location of a number of churches since 350 A.D. 

An archaeological excavation was begun in 1976 and completed only recently. We decided to visit this area first and so headed down the stairs that led beneath the cathedral.

The excavated space is greater than just under the cathedral; it also extends under the streets in the surrounding area.

Here Carol is reading a plaque that explains what she is seeing in this corner. The colored sticks denote different time periods.

Among other things, they have found the remains of several older churches, of wells, the tomb of some chieftain, mosaics...

and baptisteries...

The older ones of these was large enough for full immersion while the newer ones gradually become smaller and smaller as the ceremony eventually changed to just a sprinkling of water.

It was interesting to see that every time someone wanted to build a bigger church, they wouldn't dig up the older floor to replace it, but would simply cover it with a thick layer of dirt and then start over. We saw the tunnels that allowed them to heat the monks cells (their 2 story private space in which they lived), where the cathedral bell was poured, the mosaic floor of a reception room...it went on and on. 

Having gained an appreciation for the history of this location, we headed back upstairs to actually see the cathedral. I was far more impressed with the changes that had taken place over time than I was with the current structure.

Carol decided to climb the tower. I decided to sit out that particular climb and watched a video of the history instead.

Geneva played an important role in the movement to reform the Catholic Church and the development of Protestant religions.

Next we wanted to see the Reformation Wall and asked for directions at the Reformation Museum. 

It was about 2 PM and we were getting hungry so we hoped to find lunch on our way. There were some wonderful places to eat, but it was past lunch time and the cafes were serving drinks...not meals. We continued walking until we were far more interested in food than in the Reformation. 

Eventually we found ourselves walking along the edge above a park. I saw the face of a carved figure, leaned over the edge and declared that we were probably on top of the Reformation Wall.

We still had a long walk to the park entrance...and then we realized we had also found another item on our list of things to see. There were the outdoor checkers and chess games!

Reformation Wall was impressive. It's huge!

There was a restaurant in the park and our hopes for lunch surged to the fore...but they were only serving drinks. They did tell us about a cafe that served food all day, just a 5 minute walk. 

We headed out of the park and tried to figure out the directions we'd been given. What does straight ahead mean when there are at least 3 streets straight ahead? We did a lot of wandering in the general direction of what we had been told and finally found a place that had food...but not the cafe we had been looking for. By this time Carol's stomach was upset so all she wanted was a bathroom and some tea. I ordered a sandwich and an apple tart.

We finally recovered enough to begin walking again and suddenly realized we were seeing the same clock and statue that had been our starting point for exploring the “old town” that morning. 

Certainly couldn't forget all those gift boxes in the window!

 

There was no bus waiting for us so we wandered towards the lake. There was the flower clock we had wanted to see! 

Unfortunately, my camera had died at Reformation Wall. Pictures for the rest of this day will have to wait for Carol to get home and email them to me.

By this time it would have been about 5 PM...the evening's events included a fabulous meal, a train ride, policemen, a man in handcuffs, a long walk and reaching "home" at 10 PM...Other than that first bus in the morning, we had spent the rest of the day and evening walking from one end of Geneva to the other.