Unveiling Geneva’s Timeless Charms: A Journey Through Old Town's Rich History

(203 reviews)

Geneva audio tour: Unveiling Geneva’s Timeless Charms: A Journey Through Old Town's Rich History

This is a 0.4mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Geneva

Switzerland

$11.99

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About the Tour

Embark on a journey to bygone Geneva and discover how a small city left a surprisingly large footprint in the fields of ethics, politics, history and science. On this walking tour, we’ll take a stroll through the cobbled streets to hear stories that begin over 2,000 years ago, and others that take us to the present day. I’ll answer questions about who founded the city, what role the Celts and the Romans had in its formation, and who the Burgundians were.

Along the way you’ll learn about the Protestant Reformation, the Swiss Confederation, and the founding of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions. You'll also hear about:

The old marketplace
The Holy Roman Empire
The cathedral and its Chapel of the Maccabees
Geneva’s oldest house, now a museum, and its oldest street
Ancient stories behind the Arsenal’s mosaics
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the celebrated philosopher
The invention of the US dollar
How Switzerland came to be a neutral state

Come along and explore Geneva's beautiful, storied corners as you retrace its journey in becoming one of the world's smallest cities with global significance.

Tour Producer

Ariel Pierre Haemmerlé

8 tours

My name is Ariel Peter Haemmerlé and I’m a certified Geneva tourist guide. Peter is to remind my Christian ancestors.
A very diversified professional life has made me discover the great history and vast number of aspects of our city.
My last official job was to take care of the archives of the Geneva State Heritage Office. Only when I got retired some years ago, I passed the certification of local tourist guide and really started to have time to do this job. Very quickly, I was so successful that I did over 200 guided tours a year. Since, Geneva Tourism and many other agencies continue to call for my tours all the time.
I also specialized on thematic tours like the foundation of the International Red Cross; Calvin and the protestant reformation; Jean-Jacques Rousseau the Genevan philosopher; Tales & legends of Geneva; Geneva world capital of luxury watchmaking; writers in Geneva; and last but not least the history of the city of Carouge next to Geneva, catholic city built by the King of Piedmont-Sardinia to compete the flourishing protestant Geneva, which was a thorn in his eye.

Preview Location

Location 6

The Maccabee Chapel and the Archeological Museum

Stop here and turn right to face the chapel with the arched gothic windows.

This is the Maccabee chapel.

See how the window arches are more broken, more gothic, because it was built later, inaugurated in 1406, to honor cardinal De Brogny from the Geneva diocese. He was... Stop here and turn right to face the chapel with the arched gothic windows.

This is the Maccabee chapel.

See how the window arches are more broken, more gothic, because it was built later, inaugurated in 1406, to honor cardinal De Brogny from the Geneva diocese. He was a very important cardinal for the Catholic church. In 1410, the Italian renaissance painter Jaquerio came to paint marvellous ceiling paintings. When the cathedral was renovated in the 1880's, they were rediscovered and restored.

There's a photo of the ceiling paintings now on your screen.

And then came the Reformation. Catholics were fed up with their church because everything was in Latin, you wouldn’t know what is in the Bible. But you were to pay all the time for your sins, so called indulgences. There was also an incredible business with relics of saints. Martin Luther started Reformation in Germany in 1517. Geneva’s people also wanted it but had no reformer. So, Bern - then an independent state occupying most of today’s western Switzerland, sent Mr. Wilhelm Farel, who arrived in 1534. He was a former catholic priest from south of France who became Protestant and had been appointed by Bern - then an independent state occupying most of today’s western Switzerland – to introduce the Protestant Reformation in Neuchâtel and now Geneva. Eventually he managed to convince the Geneva government to prohibit the mass. The Catholic clergy of some 300 had been asked to clean the place within a few hours. No fighting, no injuries, no one killed. That is how Geneva became Protestant on August 12, 1535. And this decision has been confirmed by a vote of the Geneva citizens in May 1536.

Now, facing the chapel, walk to your left just around the corner and stop there in front of the panel about the archeological museum.

  The cathedral was once more renovated in the 1970s. They removed the floor and made fantastic archeological discoveries. So, a new floor was installed and transformed the whole space underneath into an archeological museum. It leads you to see a real, over 2000 years old skeleton of a Celt leader, authentic Roman mosaics and more. It’s one of the finest of its kind north of the Alps. You can easily spend two hours inside, but you can also make it shorter. If you like, you can go inside after this tour. It’s a private museum. Therefore, you have to pay a little entrance fee. But you get an audioguide offering comments in six languages.

Now with your back to the cathedral, make your way over to the house directly opposite it. Feel free take a seat on stone bench in front of the house. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Tavel House
Maccabee Chapel
The Arsenal
Parc “La Treille”
Bourg-de-Four
St Pierre Cathedral
Geneva City Hall
Promenade de la Treille
Grand-Rue

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Rue d'Italie 11, 1204 Genève, Switzerland
Total distance

654m
Final location
Rpe de la Treille, 1204 Genève, Switzerland
Distance back to start location

246.74m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts at Place Bourg-de-Four, in the heart of the old town. You can climb up to the old town from anywhere to go there. If it is too steep, you can take the little bus nr 92 from anywhere in the lower streets where tramlines 12 and 17 and several buses pass. This small bus line runs in a circle, so from anywhere you take it, it passes at Bourg-de-Four. You can also get off at “Museum d’Art & Histoire” and walk a few steps to the pace. The map on your phone will guide you.

Note: If you stay in a hotel, you will receive the "Geneva Transport Card" for free. This card allows you to take all public transportation as much as you want during your stay. The State of Geneva offers it.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

There are cafes and restaurants all along the route. You will find public toilets at the starting point behind the Linden tree and next to the cathedral.

Best time of day

Any time, but best at daylight. The cathedral and museums only open at 10 AM.

Precautions

Geneva is a very safe place. Criminality rate is very low. However, use normal precautions against pickpockets. There are not many, but in case… And don’t hang around the rue de Berne late in the evening.

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App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”