Geneva (French: Genève) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman, but the Genevois and Genevoise are fond of calling it Lac de Genève) empties into the Rhône River. It is the capital of the Canton of Geneva. The population of the city is 185,526 (2004) and that of the agglomeration in Switzerland and France 645,000 (2000).
The name in German: Genf, Italian: Ginevra, Romansh Genevra; for the name in other languages see here.
Geneva was the name of a settlement of the Celtic people of the Allobroges, and the name of Genava (or Genua) in Latin appeared for the first time in the writings of Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico, his comments on the Gallic Wars. Its name is probably identical in origin to the name of the Ligurian city of Genua (modern Genoa), meaning "knee", i.e. "angle", referring to its geographical position. After the Roman conquest it became part of the Provincia Romana (Gallia Narbonensis). In 58 BCE, at Geneva, Caesar hemmed in the Helvetii on their westward march. In the 9th century it became the capital of Burgundy. Though Geneva was contested between Burgundians and Franks and the Holy Roman Emperors, in practice it was ruled by its bishops, until the Reformation, when Geneva became a republic.
Due to the work of reformers such as John Calvin, Geneva was sometimes dubbed the Protestant Rome. In the 16th century Geneva was the center of Calvinism; the old town St Peter's Cathedral was John Calvin's own church.
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Geneva at night
One of the most important date in Geneva's history is the Escalade. For the people of Geneva the Escalade is the symbol of their independence. The Escalade (literally: "scaling the walls") marks the final attempt in a series of assaults mounted throughout the 16th century by Savoy which wanted to annex Geneva as its capital north of the Alps. This last assault happened on the night of the 11th-12th December 1602 and is still celebrated in Geneva, with numerous demonstrations and shows of men in arms in original costumes, cannons and horses in the Geneva old town.
Geneva, still called today Canton and Republic of Geneva, became a canton of Switzerland in 1815. The first of the Geneva Conventions was signed in 1864, to protect the sick and wounded in war time. |
