Page 111 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Switzerland

Dusk setting over Geneva’s Brunswick monument and fountain

GENEVA

The capital of Switzerland’s westernmost canton,
with which it shares its name, Geneva nestles
against the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman),
where the Rhône and the Arve divide. It was
settled by the Celtic Helvetii around 450 BC, who
were attracted by the fertile land and defensive
position. The same appealed to the Romans,
who swooped in to secure the city in 121 BC.
Fought over for centuries by dif erent factions,
the city gained its independence in 1536. By
that point, the city of Geneva was estab lished
as a prosperous centre of trade, and on its way
to becoming a stronghold of the Reformation.
Known as the Protestant Rome, the city attracted
Protestant refugees from across Europe. These
newcomers both increased the city’s wealth and
boosted its cosmopolitan character. Artists and
philoso phers soon followed, adding to the city’s
culture. The city’s reputation as a place of media­
tion and civility was cemented in 1864, when the
International Red Cross was founded by a group of
Genevois. In the century that followed, the League
of Nations and later the United Nations made their
home here. Now home to more than 200 inter­
national organizations, including CERN, one of the
world’s most advanced labora tories, it remains a
centre of international cooperation.
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