Secret Geneva Guide

Christian Vellas has been an editor and reporter for the Tribune newspaper in Geneva for the past 35 years. He has also published more than 20 books, including novels, short stories, the History of Geneva, Switzerland and Lake Geneva's legends, guide books ... He is one of the best experts of the city of Geneva and its canton.

• The last pillar of the former domes Albert Gallatin: a Genevan American who helped the US buy Louisiana from NapoleonCamillo Cavour, the father of Italian unification, lived in GenevaThe door of the Pictet House "One of the cruellest abuses of the luxury that devoured us for so long..."The last fire-pot in Geneva Mysterious numbers on the Perron steps The `secret' Monetier passageThe twists and turns of rue des BarrieresThe sculpted bomb behind Magdalene Church When Geneva was mistaken for GenoaThe remains of Muret passageThe strange destiny of the Lutheran Church The bust of Rudolph ToepfferT pffer: source of inspiration for Gustave Dore, Picasso The mysterious ladies of the Troinex stone Stele to the glory of the god Mithra When a banker bought `his' streetMithraism - a fascinating ancient religion for the initiatedChristmas owes its date of 25 December to the winder solstice and Mithraism Franz Liszt and Marie d'Agoult's house of love Sinister Tabazan's shop sign Rue Chausse-Coq: a reminder of the brothels of yesteryear The statue of Gundobad at Bourg-de-Four The banners of the Clementine statueThe cycle of centuries on Bourge-De-FourWhen number 1, Grand-rue was number 237Place de la Taconnerie street sign The site of the tumultuous love affair between Eugene Sue and Lucien Bonaparte's granddaughter, 30 years his juniorWho was Jean de Brogny?The bas-relief of the pig keeper Why is the chapel called the Chapel of the Maccabees?The enigma of `Apollo's head' Clement's mark beneath Saint Peter's The inscription agains the `Roman Antichrist' Symbols of the cathedral's capitalsthe Orpheus Capital in the Cathedral The much of OrpheusThe misericords of Saint Peter's Cathedral Peculiar motifs under these canons' seats The sibyl of Saint Peter's Cathedral stallsSibyls: prophets of Christ?The Romans, interpreters of the Sibylline BooksThe bowed head of the prophet Jeremiah Auguste de Niederhausen, one of Rodin's students The mysterious heads on the Tavel House The little-known travels of five Arsenal cannonsThe town's hall bench of justiceJacques Gruet: the author of the oldest Genevan document in patoisThe horseman's ramp at the town hall Inscription at promenade de la TrillSaint German: Geneva's oldest church paid the tax for the Crusades Urban fossils at the town hall The statue of Pictet de Rochemont The Treille's Bench Is the world's longest bench in Marseille, France?The Treille's official chestnut treeThe `crazy chesnut' The Sautier of the Republic Where does the word Sautier come from?The angel of the monument to the Red Cross Centenary Henry Dunant: initiator, promoter, or founder of the Red Cross?Old Geneva's underground tunnels Niches in the facade of the Maison Internationale des etudiants Juliet Drouet naked What became of James Pradier The little secrets if the Reformation WallLandowski: the sculptor of the Reformation Wall ... and the Christ of Rio de JaneiroThe only woman David, Vainqueur de Goliath statue Sculptors who change their first name The curious location of the bust of Henry Dunant The guillotine in Geneva The naked statue of `Harmony' at Victoria Hall The grotesque figure of rue de la Corraterie Theodore de Beze on the Escalade fountain Why was the Escalade fountain placed so far from the site of the Savoyard attack that was miraculously repelled in 1602?The forgotten origin of the Rues-Basses lions A controversial bas-relief at Molard Where does the word `molard' come from?The plaque too the creator of Esperanto Secret gardens of Carouge Holy Cross Church did a U-turn An emblematic cinema saved by local willpower Bio for Biographe, Georges Kemeny's invention Cemetery of the Kings, PlainpalaisThe grave of Griselidis Real, Geneva's most famous prostitute Masonic top of Georges Favon The Masonic Blavignac Tower The Savoyard women of the national monument Fountain of the Jardin Agnlais Private boat trip on the `Neptune' The Pierre du Niton landmark When Gargantua skipped rocks The Peacock House and the House of Pan Pan: a god at the original of the word `panic' Plaque rejected for Celine's house The fauns of 33-35 avenue de Miremont Champel: rue Beau-Sejour was the former site of executionsFrankestein, an occult novel written at Cologny The mysterious B of Bodmer Museum Vestiges of the Roman aqueduct serving GenevaThe weasel on the statue of Philibert Berthelier Marks of Florentine power at Saint Gervais Temple The red lily, symbol of Florence Sacred symbolism of the fleur-de-lis Misericords of Saint Gervais Temple Saint Gervais Archaeological Site Plaque of the Genevan heroes The 14 Savoyards hung and beheaded after the Escalade The bas-relief of Rue Vallin Where does the word cabinotier come from?Au Vieux St-Gervais boutique The secret passages of Saint Gervais Rousseau's false birthplace The revenge of a shunned statue Room 122 of the Cornavin Hotel Les Paquis church The forgotten peregrinations of the former Russian Hotel's sphinxes Where does the name Cornavin come from?The bloodstained rose and ribbon of Sissi the empressThe assassin's head preserved in Vienna The roving statue of the Duke of Brunswick Hidden symbolism of the Brunswick tombThe chateau of Dardagny and Le capitaine Fracasse: what is the true decor described by Theophile Gautier?The reason for the church of Prissy's isolated facade The last Genevan capotes The `petrified' in front of Palais Wilson Palais Wilson: an eventful existenceMon-Repos villaThe forgotten peregrinations of the pacifist work The surprising history of the Japanese bell in Ariana gardens A UN fresco created by a centenarian painterThe thirteen volume of La floor du Mexique The oldest walnut tree in SwitzerlandChateau de Rouleau excavation site The legend of the White Lady The walls of the weaver's farmhouse House of the heroic Irene Gubier Three heroes among many others The last double-decker bench The mysterious pavilion of Pont-de-Sierne Israeli cemetery at Veyrier The exact site of Ferdinand Lasalle's duel Guerlain's secret garden Mysteries of orchids The catholic cross of Sezenove The Justice Stone What is the Justice stone?Boundary markers