:i- y.'0 mC- :\ y'V' ■'■'< e^^iL THE LAKE OF GENEVA . :^i..Ji A FOUNTAIN IN NYON The Lake of Geneva By f'^ Sir FREDERICK TREVES, Bart. G.C.V.O., G.B., LL.D., Sergeant-Surgeon to His Majesty the King AittJwr of " The Other Side of the Lantern," " The Cradle of the Deep," " The Country of the Ring and the Book," "High-ways and By-ways of Dorset," "The Riviera of the Cor niche Road," etc. etc. With a Map and lOo Illuslrations from Photographs by the Author GASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1922 ^^.\ Preface APPARENTLY no book in English deals— from the / \ point of view of the present-day traveller — with the Lake of Geneva as a whole. One work will concern itself with the Swiss side and another with the shores of Savoy, the two countries being regarded as unassimilable. Modern facilities in travelling have made the two shores one, and, moreover, the history of the district can hardly be appreciated unless it be considered as a whole. I have included two places — Abondance and Gruyeres — which are not on Lac Leman because few who come to the Lake fail to visit these ancient tovnis, since it is from the Lake that they are both most conveniently reached. I am indebted to the management of the Etablisse- ment des Bains at Evian for access to a library of over two hundred volumes dealing exclusively with the Lake and with Savoy. Extensive use has been made of the admirable Dictionnaire Historique du Canton de Vaud, the publication of which has just been completed. FREDERICK TREVES. Vevey, February, 1922. 516876 V Contents 1. The Lake of Geneva 2. Geneva : A General View .... 3. Geneva : The Old Streets .... 4. Geneva : The Old Buildings and the Alleys 5. The Escalade . . A, FROM GENEVA TO THE DRANSE 6. Hermance and Yvoire 7. The Tragedy of Beauregard 8. Thonon .... 9. Round about Thonon 10. Ripaille .... 11. Two Legends of Ripaille . B. FROM THE DRANSE TO THE RHONE 12. A Deserted Spa . 13. EVIAN ..... 14. The Fete-Dieu . 15. Victor Amadeus II and Evian 16. The Real Country 17. How Marie Aimee met Seven Angels in the Guise of Mendicants 18. The Castle of St. Paul 19. The Great Stone and the Haunted Lake 20. The Holly of the Talking Cats 21. The Abbey of Abondance . 22. From Evian to Bouveret . 23. Meillerie and its Love Story . vii 1 6 16 22 29 39 48 54 61 09 78 83 88 97 100 106 111 114 118 123 129 135 139 Contents 24. John Evelyn at Bouveret 25. Across the Rhone ..... C. FROM THE RHONE TO LAUSANNE 26. The Three Towns 27. Chillon ..... 28. The Prisoner of Chillon . 29. Barbille of Chatelard 30. Vevey 31. La Tour de Peilz 32. The Escapade of Madame de Warens 33. Blonay Castle .... 34. Gruyeres ..... 35. On the Road to Lausanne 36. A Chapel in a Grocer's Shop 37. LUTRY . . . . 38. Lausanne ..... 39. Gibbon at Lausanne . 40. OUCHY ..... PAGE 147 152 165 173 179 184 189 197 200 209 215 224 230 236 241 252 263 D. FROM LAUSANNE TO GENEVA 41. St. Sulpice and Morges ..... 269 42. St. Prex and a Man of Weight . . . 279 43. RoLLE 283 44. Nyon 289 45. Madame de Stael ...... 297 46. CoppET AND its Chateau ..... 308 47. The Home of Susanna Curchod . . . 315 48. The Town that is not a Town . . . .319 49. Voltaire at Ferney ...... 324 Index 333 vni List of Illustrations A Fountain in Nyon • • Frontispiece FACIN O PAQB Geneva from the Lake ...... 6 Geneva : The Last of the Penthouses . 10 Geneva : Monument to the Reformatio n 14 Geneva : Rue Calvin 18 Geneva : Bourg de Four 20 Geneva : Tour Baudet 24 Geneva : Scene of the Escalade . 30 Hermance, from the Lake . 40 Hermance ..... 40 Yvoire (Castle on Right) 42 A Gate of Yvoire 44 Street in Yvoire . 44 Yvoire : The Church 46 Beauregard 50 Thonon .... 54 Thonon : St. Francis' Shop 58 Rives below Thonon . 58 The Castle of Allinges 62 The Chapel of Allinges 64 Concise .... 64 The Dranse 66 The Old Bridge over the Dranse 68 Ripaille : The Entrance . 70 IX List of Illustrations FACIl s:g page The Chateau of Ripaille 74 Ripaille : The Nut Tower . 78 Amphion .... 86 Amphion : The Deserted Spa 86 Evian .... 92 Evian : One of the Towers . 92 Evian Church 98 How Vmes are Grown in Savoy- . 106 Marie Aimee's Shrine . 112 The Great Stone . 120 Dent d'Oche .... 120 Maxilly Castle .... 124 Abondance : The Cloisters . 130 Abondance : The Door of the Virgin . 130 Petite Rive : A Tj^pical Lake-side Village 136 Meillerie ....... 142 Tower at Porte du Sex 152 Chessel Church ...... 152 Noville ....... 154 Villeneuve : The Bouvier House . 160 Villeneuve : The Tower .... 160 Sea-gulls on the Lake .... 168 Chillon from the Lake .... 174 Chillon 174 A Courtyard in Chillon .... 176 The Great Hall, Chillon .... 176 The Pillar in the Torture Chamber, Chillon . 178 The Castle of Chatelard .... 186 Vevey ....... 190 A Street in Vevey ..... 194 X List of Illustrations FACING PAGE Chateau de la Tour de Peilz, from the Harbour . 196 Chateau de la Tour de Peilz ..... 198 Blonay Castle ........ 210 Blonay Castle : The Main Gate ..... 212 St. Saphorin : The Entry ...... 224 Glerolles, showing a Background of Vineyards 224 Cully : A Door of 1598 232 Cully : A Mediaeval Bench dug out from Tree Trunk 232 Lutry ......... 236 Lutry : The Church Door ...... 236 Lutry : The Castle and Town Wall .... 238 Lutry : The Castle Door ...... 240 Lutry : The Stone Hand ...... 240 Lausanne ......... 242 Lausanne : Fountain and Town Hall .... 244 Lausanne : The Market Stairs ..... 246 Lausanne : The Wooden House . . . 246 Lausanne : Tower of Bishop's Palace .... 248 Lausanne : The Chateau ...... 248 Lausanne : The House in which Gibbon Lodged . 256 Stone showing Leagues ...... 270 270 Morges ......... 272 The Castle of Morges ....... 276 Vufflens ......... 276 St. Prex 280 St. Prex : The Town Gate 280 Rolle 284 The Castle of Rolle 286 Rolle 286 XI List of Illustrations The Tower of Aubonne Aubonne : Entrance to the Chateau Nyon. ..... Nyon : Rue de la Flechere Nyon : The Writing on the Wall Madame de Stael Coppet : The Chateau Coppet : The Church . Coppet : The Main Street . Coppet : The Entrance to the Chateau Coppet : Where Madame de Stael is Buried Crassier : The Church and Gendarmerie Grassier : The Home of Susanna Curchod Versoix ...... Old Shops in Ferney .... Voltaire's House, Ferney Map FACING PAGE . 288 . 288 . 290 . 294 . 294 . 302 . 308 . 310 . 312 . 314 . 314 . 316 . 318 . 320 . 328 . 328 . 332 xu THE LAKE OF GENEVA THE LAKE OF GENEVA THE concise facts about the Lake of Geneva are these : It is the Lac Leman of the French. It is the largest of the lakes. It stands at a height of 1,220 feet above the level of the sea, and its waters are blue. It is bounded by Savoy on the one side and by Switzerland on the other. The Rhone runs through it from end to end. It is subject to a strange undulatory wave called a seiche, which passes across it like a shudder, or as if the side of the cup in which the Lake is lodged had been hghtly struck. The vast dimensions of the Lake can best be realized by imagining it empty of its water. It would then appear as a barren valley of rock 45 miles long and 8j miles broad at its widest point. It would take the form of a vast, terrific canyon, with sides of clammy and cadaverous stone and with a depth so profound that its bottom would be almost in twilight, since at its deepest it sinks no less than 1,095 feet. At one end of the valley the Rhone would pour in as an icy waterfall ; while at the other end — like a card- The Lake of Geneva board toy on the top of a bank — would be the city of Geneva. The bottom of the valley would be covered with the clay-coloured mud brought down by the river, and here, one may imagine, would be writhing and plunging those fearsome reptiles that belong to the Legends of the Lake. There would be strange heaps of wreckage amid the silvery acres of dead fish, and, perhaps, on a ledge of rock in the valley's side a lonely skeleton with a rope and stone still dangling from its neck ; for executions by drowning were once common in these waters. Far more important than its topographical features are the conflicts of thought and of national ideals of which the Lake has been the scene. On the south shores of Leman the feudal form of government pre- vailed. Here the castle and the baron dominated the land ; the peasants were serfs, and those in higher place but obsequious servants. In early days Savoy was broken up into little seigneuries, which held their own with such strength as they could command. Then came Humbert of the White Hands, who banded the inde- pendent, feudal lords into one united body and so established the State of Savoy, of which he — as Count — became the autocratic ruler. Savoy rose to be a power, not through the merit of its princes, but by the circumstance that France never ceased in her attempts to gain possession of it. It was the greed and aggression of France that made Savoy whole, that kept it united and kept it strong. But whether under one lord or under many, it remained the land where men had few rights but those of obedience. On the other side of the Lake the contrary condition I The Lake of Geneva held sway. The people were bent upon acquiring liberty and the control of their own destinies. So long as they were subject to rule they never ceased to clamour for more freedom. Little by little their demands were granted until, with increasing confidence, they grew bold, threw off the yoke of their overlords and estab- lished the first republics in modern Europe. Thus on one side of the water was an enlightened democracy, while on the other was a dull feudalism. The waters of the Lake that divided the RoyaUst from the Republican were destined, in time, to separate two antagonistic phases of religious thought. When the Reformation blazed forth, the north shores of Lac Leman became the advanced line of Protestantism and the bulwark behind which its forces gathered. Across the water were the entrenchments of Rome. These upholders of adverse faiths glared at one another across the blue until, in a memorable year, the army of the Reformation crossed the barrier, invaded the Roman lines, swept over Chablais^ and converted it to Protest- antism. The victory was only for a while, since under the leadership of St. Francis of Sales the Catholic Church succeeded in regaining the ground that it had lost and that it has never since surrendered. But this is not all, for the Lake was to witness another profound movement which served further to divide the minds of men — Voltairism came into being. Voltairism, Lord Morley claims to stand out as " one of the great decisive movements in the European advance, like the Revival of Learning, or the Reformation." *' We may think," he adds, "of Voltairism in France 1 Chablais is that province of Savoy which borders on the Lake. 3 The Lake of Geneva somewhat as we think of CathoUcism or the Renaissance or Calvinism. It was one of the cardinal liberations of the growing race, one of the emphatic manifestations of some portion of the minds of men, which an immediately foregoing system and creed had either ignored or out- raged."^ Voltaire lived at Ferney — a few miles from Geneva — for some twenty years, during which time he never failed to spread abroad the views with which his name is associated. In present aspect the two shores of Lac Leman differ very much when seen from the water. On the Savoy side is a luxuriant land, w^ayward and unsophisticated, a land without walls or hedges where things seem to grow as they will with little method or restraint. The north shore, on the other hand, is meticulously tilled. Its slope, from Vevey almost to Nyon, is covered with vine- yards patterned out by formal lines and made to look stiff and artificial. In the spring the northern bank of the Lake for many miles is a cinnamon-brown and as monotonous in hue as a ploughed field. When the vine leaves appear the slope becomes a hesitating green and then a bolder green which, as the autumn wanes, fades into tints of yellow or ruddy brown. Thus it is that the more pleasing view of the Lake is gained from the northern side, for it affords a view across the water of a coast that is always green and that has, moreover, as a glorious background, a range of mountains capped with snow. Many times and by many pens has the Lake been described. The descriptions are monotonous, for they are all in terms of "blue" and are indeed little more 1 " Voltaire," by John Morley. London, 1897. 4 The Lake of Geneva than rhapsodies in blue. Ruskin exults in the glories of this tint with such thoroughness that he leaves the subject almost exhausted, for he speaks of "the ever- answering glow of unearthly aquamarine, ultramarine, violet-blue, gentian-blue, peacock-blue, river-of-paradise- blue, glass of a painted window melted in the sun." It is unquestionable that the Lake is often blue ; but it is always a delicate and timid blue, very unlike the bold assertive blue of the Mediterranean. It is, more- over, a tint that ever varies, that changes with each hour of the day, for the surface of the Lake is sensitive, sympathetic and full of moods. It may fade into grey, the grey of the pearl if the sun be on it, the grey of the smoke of burning wood if it be in the shadow of a cloud. There are days when it is almost jade-green. There are evenings when it is streaked with lilac, with coral-pink or with rose-red. There are, moreover, occa- sions, it must be said, when " the river-of-paradise-blue " is replaced by a colour so commonplace as that of an old pewter plate. The surface of the Lake has been compared to a mirror, but it is seldom so hard or so artificial as to justify that comparison. It may on a sunless day resemble a sheet of blue Damascus steel, or when the mist is gathering it may have the appearance of sullen ice, but of the Lake as a sitting-room mirror few can have knowledge. For convenience of description the Lake in the following account is divided into four sections : A. From Geneva to the Dranse. B. From the Dranse to the Rhone. C. From the Rhone to Lausanne. D. From Lausanne to Geneva. 5 II GENEVA : A GENERAL VIEW GENEVA, when seen for the first time, should be seen from the Lake. To arrive at the railway station and be conveyed through featureless streets in an hotel omnibus is merely to gain an impres- sion of a town that may be any towTi, may be Lyons or Marseilles or such other city as has the names of its streets inscribed in French. The visitor would expect to find something very distinctive about Geneva, if he be one of those who hold that human characteristics are influenced or determined by environment. He would insist that there must be something unusual about the aspect, position or sur- roundings of Geneva to account for its history and its pronounced individuahty. What is there in the topo- graphy of the place that can explain its ponderous gravity, its love of learning, its hatred of the trivial, its passion for reform, and its general dourness? Geneva seems never to have had a childhood, much less a frivolous youth. It has always appeared to be old and solemn beyond its years. From its earliest days it clamoured for liberty at the time when its neighbours were quite content with their dukes and their kings. While other towns had their tournaments and courts of love, Geneva was poring over its books. While the girl of Savoy was slyly dropping rose leaves on a trouba- 6 Geneva: A General View dour, the maiden of Geneva was sitting at the feet of a droning preacher. While its gates were closed to the jester and the mountebank, they were open to the fanatic and the crank; for Geneva was ever a sanctuary to the man with a grievance, to the honest rebel and to all who were oppressed. There has passed along the streets of this city as strange a company of men as ever haunted the shades of Dante's Purgatorio, wild-eyed men who went by shaking their fists at a world of wrong, men too who were aflame with the spirit of destruction and the breaking up of laws, as w^ell as smiling men who, as they passed, muttered to themselves of a new heaven and a new earth. What mark has all this emotion left upon Geneva, or what is there about the disposition of the town that can explain its exceptional temperament? The answer is : There is nothing. Approached from the Lake, Geneva appears as a brilliant city at the end of an avenue of shining water bounded by green banks. Here the Lake terminates and here the city shuts in the scene, as if the sheet of w^ater were a stage. The houses are drawn across from shore to shore like a dam. They form an unbroken wall and yet at some point the Rhone must be breaking through to make its escape to the sea ; but of any such gap there is no sign. About the place is a sense of finality, a sense of having come to the end of things, for over the tops of the houses that close the Lake there is nothing to be seen but the sky. The dam might be built on the brink of the world and beyond it there may be nothing but space into which the Rhone drops like a waterfall. 7 The Lake of Geneva On nearer approach the brilliancy of Geneva becomes more evident. The houses are lofty and bravely coloured and present a wide front of thousands of windows and thousands of sun-blinds. There is nothing to suggest academic solemnity or puritanical gloom. On a hillock to the left are the towers and spire of a church, but beyond this Geneva would appear to be composed of gay and magnificent hotels. In the matter of cheerfulness and worldliness it may be an inland Nice or a lake-side Monte Carlo. A fuller acquaintance with Calvin's home shows it to be a fine ambitious city, beautifully ordered and modern in every particle of its being. Geneva, like Lausanne, has long carried on a crusade against all that is old within its boundaries. Old Geneva has practically vanished, except in a few; by-ways and corners; while in its place is a reformed city which is evidently determined never to put new wine into old bottles. That Geneva is still a place of refuge may be gathered from the fact that, although the population of the Canton is 151,000, only 50,000 of this number are Genevese, while 39,000 are Swiss of other Cantons and no fewer than 62,000 are foreigners. The passing away of old Geneva is to be deplored, as it was a town of peculiar fascination. Ruskin speaks of it as "the most lovely spot, and the most notable, without any possible doubt, of the European universe," as "a bird's nest of a place, the centre of reHgious and social thought and of physical beauty to all hving Europe."^ Happily very many prints and old accounts exist of Geneva as it was, so that it is possible to 1 " Praeterita." 8 Geneva : A General View reconstruct, in imagination, the city of ancient days.^ It consisted of two parts joined by a bridge over the Rhone. The part on the north side — the Quartier St. Gervais — was small and occupied a very low hillock ; while the south part — the Quartier St. Pierre — was large and covered a dome-shaped hill of some height. Both parts of the town were surrounded by a wall and a moat. The wall was made formidable by many towers and pierced by many gates. Of the moat, the gates and the towers all traces have disappeared, but of the ancient walls there are still some meagre relics to be seen, as in the Rue d' Italic and the Rue de Beauregard. Mediaeval Geneva was a small place. The confines of the south town may be indicated at the present day by the lake-side, the Rue d'ltalie, the Rue des Casemates, the foot of the Rue de la Croix Rouge and the Corra- terie ; and the boundaries of the smaller town by the quay, by the Rue des Terreaux du Temple, the Cornavin and the Rue de Chantepoulet. Inside the Quartier St. Pierre there are feeble traces of even an older town, the almost forgotten Burgundian to\Mi, for after the passing away of the Romans Geneva became, in 443, the capital of the Kingdom of Burgundy. Gondebaud, the most famous and most disreputable of the early Burgundian kings, built a castle in Geneva in the Bourg-de-Four and surrounded the town with a wall. About 534 the Franks possessed the place, but at the end of the ninth century it was annexed by the new 1 " Voyage pittoresque en Suisse," par £mile Begin. Paris, 1852. " Swit- zerland," by Wm. Beattie. London, 1834. " Les Actes et Gestes Merveilleux de la Cite de Geneve," par A. Fromment (written in 1550). Geneva, 1854. " Le Tour du L^man," par A. de Bougy. Paris, 1846. " Beaut^s de I'Histoire de la Savoie et de Geneve," par P. Nougaret. Paris, 1818. " L'Ancienne Geneve," par J. Mayor. Geneva, 1896. 9 The Lake of Geneva Burgundian kingdom under Rodolfe I. In 1038 — on the death of Rodolfe III — it passed into the possession of the German Empire, and thus is explained how the Imperial eagle on a yellow ground became a part of the arms of the city. The wall that enclosed the old Burgundian town ran to the east of the Cathedral and the Bourg-de-Four, followed on the north the line of the Rue Calvin, and extended towards the Rhone as far as the Tour de Boel. Fragments of this old wall appear in the Rue du Manege, Rue de Bemont, the alleys of the Rue de la Pelisserie and the north face of the Rue Calvin. The bridge was a remarkable feature of Geneva. It was interrupted by an island, as it is to this day. It was of wood, and was crowded with wooden houses which hung perilously over the Rhone. They did more than this. They waded out into the river on piles, some venturing as far as a hundred feet. They formed a curious medley of taverns and private houses, of shops and primitive factories, for in certain of the dwellings there was a water-wheel whirling under the ground floor. The houses were all gaily decorated, and the roadway was made brilliant by swinging shop-signs and the sign- boards of inns, with perhaps, now and then, the coat of arms of a noble resident. As the structure was of wood, it is no wonder that, on a certain day in 1670, the bridge and all that was on it was burned to the water's edge. About a century ago Geneva was the delight of everyone who had eyes to see. There was no city like it, old travellers were wont to assert. Shelley was about the only visitor of note who could find " nothing in it that can repay you the trouble of walking over its rough lO GENENA: THE LAST OF THE PENTHOUSES Geneva: A General View stones."^ He complained, too, that the gates were closed at 10 p.m. (The chief gates were demolished in 1831.) To Ruskin it was always " the dear old decrepit town." He describes it, in his " Praeterita," as "a little town, composed of a cluster of watermills, a street of penthouses, two wooden bridges, two dozen of stone houses on a little hill, and three or four perpendicular lanes up and down the hill." He found, however, another bridge over the moat. It was " the delicatest of fihform suspension bridges," he says, " strong enough it looked to carry a couple of lovers over in safety, or a nursemaid and children, but nothing heavier." Old prints and drawings (such as those of Henri Silvestre) show what an exceedingly picturesque place it was, with its untidy river banks, its piratical-looking lanes, its tumbledown mills, its ancient dwellings with their great overshadowing roofs and wooden balconies, while the river-side houses hung over the water like a line of old clothes clinging to pegs. Perhaps the most striking and unique feature of Geneva in those days were the penthouses. They stood high up under the eaves of the dwelling, where they formed part of the fifth story. They were supported on immensely tall square pillars of wood which sprang from the street. They sheltered the houses from sun and rain. There is only one penthouse left in Geneva. It is in the Rue de la Cite (No. 5). It consists of one towering square pillar which supports a room on the fifth stor>\ The little room, which has two windows, looks like a dovecote on a pole. I can imagine it occupied by a boy who had faith in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. » " JDstory of a Six Weeks' Tour." London, 1817. II The Lake of Geneva Those who are unmoved by new municipal buildings, palatial hotels and super-modern shops will find the most interesting part of Geneva in the Musee d'Art et Histoire, where will be seen, among a superb collection of old prints, two large models of the town as it appeared in 1815 and 1850 respectively. In the same museum also are deposited innumerable relics which have come down from the days of the lake-dweller and the Roman occupation to the sober times of the nineteenth century. Here mil be seen a prehistoric boat and its paddles, old furniture, old ceilings, old tavern signs, old ironwork, as well as a medley of little things that recall the intimate life of the serious city. Notable in the collection are two street doors, one a splendid piece of woodwork of the sixteenth century from the Rue de la Pelisserie, and another from the Rue Calvin which is covered with the burnt-in stamps of various revolutionary clubs. Among these writings in red-hot iron are a heart enclosing the word " constant," the cap of liberty on a staff with the doubtfully sincere word "pax," the frequently recurring design of two fish, and many monograms and initials. One feature in Geneva that curiously impresses the visitor is the sight of the Rhone rushing through the town. There is some inscrutable magic in this spectacle, for I have watched a perspiring tourist tearing along the quay with guide-book in hand and with evidently not a moment to spare. I have seen him cast a glance over the parapet at the Rhone and suddenly stop, to forget his haste, and possibly his lunch, and to gaze on the river with the absorption of a mesmerized man. It is difficult to say what constitutes the fascination of this 12 Geneva: A General View amazing stream. It is an effect compounded of many things, of the terrific speed at which the tide whirls by, of its haunting colour — a spectral blue — and of its gigantic volume, for it seems as if this outrush must empty the Lake in a day. The sight of the Rhone at Geneva made a great impression upon Ruskin, who explains its enchantment in the following fine passage : " For all other rivers there is a surface, and an underneath, and a vaguely displeasing idea of the bottom. But the Rhone flows like one lambent jewel ; its surface is nowhere, its ethereal self is everywhere, the iridescent rush and translucent strength of it blue to the shore, and radiant to the depth. Fifteen feet thick, of not flowing, but flying water; not water, neither, — melted glacier, rather, one should call it ; the force of the ice is with it, and the wreathing of the clouds, the gladness of the sky, and the continuance of Time. Waves of clear sea are, indeed, lovely to watch, but they are always coming or gone, never in any taken shape to be seen for a second. But here was one mighty wave that was always itself, and every fluted swirl of it, constant as the wreathing of a shell . . . the never-pausing plunge, and never-fading flash, and never- hushing whisper." In the place of the two bridges of Ruskin's time there are now seven. They are all temperately ugly. In the middle of the river, as it leaves the Lake, is a pleasant little island called, in old days, the He des Bergues, or Isle of Barges. It is shaded by trees and forms a cool retreat from the whirl of traffic and the buzz of life along the quays. It is occupied by an unpretentious cafe and a pretentious statue of Rousseau, by reason of which it is called Rousseau's Island. It brings those who come here in very intimate association with the wonder of the '3 The Lake of Geneva river; since, but for the lack of moveijient, it might be a raft anchored in the torrent. It is, moreover, a place frequented by sea-gulls. These birds are an agreeable feature in the life of the Lake. Their migration every year is a matter of mystery. They go ; but no one knows whither, for the nursery of the race is still a secret place. The birds are becoming demoralized. Their proper occupation is fishing ; but now that the tourists have taken to feeding them with bread they have neglected that industry. Instead of following the fish in the Lake, they prefer to follow the steamers, to haunt the quays and to subsist on the unemployment dole which is so lavishly bestowed. They ^vill soon become, like the pigeons of Venice, a company of tourist-supported idlers. If the average visitor were advised that there is, in a public park in Geneva, a new and recently erected monument to the Reformation he would probably express gratitude for the warning and add that there were already enough recent memorials in England and France to satisfy the most morbid craving. Yet this is a monument so remarkable and so impressive that it is worth a pilgrimage to see it. It consists of a long stone wall of great height. At the bottom of the wall runs a stream, clear as crystal, in a channel of stone. There are lilies in flower in the stream. Above the wall rises the old city of Geneva. In the centre of the wall stand erect four gigantic figures of men. They are the four leaders of the Reformation — Farel, Calvin, Beze and Knox. They are solemn enough and grim enough ; while their immense proportions give them the aspect of superhuman strength. 14 * "i : Geneva: A General View They stand, side by side, \\ath their backs to the wall. It is, however, no mere wall ; for behind it is the curtain of the ancient bulwarks, that wall of 1543 which kept safe the town. It is the wall that faces Rome. Along the vast screen are other figures, smaller and, by comparison, less significant. Among them are Cromwell, the courtly Coligny and plain, honest Robert Williams. There are also bas-reliefs depicting various scenes in the development of the Reformation between the years 1536 and 1602. All these are of interest, but they do not disturb the impression made by the four stern-faced men who stand with their backs to the wall that faces Rome. 15 Ill GENEVA : THE OLD STREETS THE heart of Geneva is L'lle, a little island on the Rhone, where the old bridge crossed between the two quartiers of the town. There was a bridge here before the days of Christ, for Julius Csesar found it stemming the river when he came to this part in B.C. 58. On the south of the Rhone at that date were vague people called the Allobroges, and 'on the north the equally vague Helvetes. Caesar had already dealt with the Allobroges, but the Helvetes were giving trouble, were apt to swarm over the bridge and were indeed making themselves exceedingly offensive ; so the Roman general caused the bridge to be broken down and thus stopped their activities. This transaction is recorded on a stone in the w^all of the modern tower which now stands on the island. This tower, which is pleasing enough for a structure that has no reason for being a tower, occupies the site of a very old castle or keep which came to be, at one time, the Bastille of Geneva. Here was confined the heroic patriot Berthelier, and at the foot of the tower he was beheaded. This was in 1519, as a very theatrical statue calls to mind. The bridge opens upon the Place Bel Air, which was at one time known as the Square of the Three Kings from a tavern of that name. Professor Doumergue i6 Geneva: The Old Streets states that in this spot the punishment of the pillory was administered as late as 1811.^ The Low Town is represented by a series of parallel streets which run east and west in a line with the quay. These streets were once the most picturesque in Geneva, for here were the penthouses. They have now been entirely rebuilt and are devoted to rows of ambitious shops. Even the quaint old alleys which, only a few years ago, crept between the Rue du Marche or Rue de la Croix d'Or and the Rue du Rhone have vanished or have been robbed of any interest. The Fusterie, the Molard and the Place de Longe- malle — now busy squares — were once inlets from the Lake where ships discharged their cargoes. At the Lake end of the Molard was a tower which (very much renovated) still remains. From the iron rod on the summit of its roof dangles a small key, a quite ordinary front door or cupboard key. This is still the subject of some surmise. Professor Doumergue thus comments on it : " The key may be that of the Rive Gate sent to the Duke of Savoy in 1602, concealed in a turkey, by a traitor." 2 A key, it might be added, forms a part of , the arms of Geneva, but it is a large key, appropriate to a castle keep, and not to a china closet. The High Town is reached by steep streets which all inevitably lead to the Town Hall, the Cathedral and the Bourg-de-Four. Of these streets the Rue de la Cite has probably seen more of the past Hfe of Genevia than has any other. At the bottom of the street is the fountain of the Escalade, erected in 1857. It is a pleasant-look- 1 " Geneva Past and Present." Geneva. (No date. A most excellent guide-book, marred only bv the lack of an index.) ' Op. cit., page 21. c 17 The Lake of Geneva ing monument of stone, alive with little bronze figures which are very busy in making vivid the tale they have to tell. It is placed where it is because on the night of December 11, 1G02, when the attempt to seize the city was made, this small street was in the very thick of it. Near the fountain is the sole remaining penthouse in Geneva, of which mention has been already made (page 11). In the alley No. 18 is a fine example of the old balconied house. The building has four stories above the ground floor. Each of these is provided with a deep and spacious wooden balcony with wxU-turned railings. The four balconies are one above the other and represent the entries to as many different residences. In another alley (No. 19) is a good specimen of the tall staircase tower which is so common in old Genevese dwellings. In the Place du Grand Mezel, higher up the street, Bonivard lived after his release from the prison of Chillon. It is now a httle Place of superior private houses. Near the top of the hill the Rue de la Cite changes its name to the Grande Rue. No. 40 in this street was the birthplace — as a tablet declares — of Jean Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712). The ancient house is replaced by a quite new building, belonging, appropriately enough, to a company of printers. About this point the Rue de la Pelisse rie stumbles up into the Grande Rue. It is a narrow, dingy street of poor but picturesque houses, many of which are of some age. It is so steep a street that at the bottom it has recourse to a flight of steps in order to accomplish the ascent. At No. 11 is a doleful alley. It ends in a court that is mysterious and mean i8 ■^^•mumJ^ (iENEV'A : RUE CA1.\ IN 1 : .'J Geneva: The Old Streets and suggestive of a trap. Here the visitor is brought suddenly face to face .with a mass of mouldy masonry. This is a part of the old Burgundian wall very dramatic- ally presenting itself. Near the top of the Rue de la Pelisserie is a large private house (No. 18). It is the best house in the street, possesses four stories, has a quite dignified entrance and the aspect of being well-to- do. It is not old, nor has it a claim to any architectural beauty, but it was here that George Eliot stayed from October, 1849, to March, 1850. She lodged with a family named Durade, the husband being an artist. She had a bed-sitting-room, took her meals with the Durades and paid for this lodging and board 150 francs a month, including light. She was the only lodger. She hired a piano. Lunch was at 12.30, dinner at 4 and tea at 8.1 Turning out of this street is the Rue Calvin, a sober, narrow street which is making its way to the Cathedral. It ends in a tiny square where are a fountain and a tree and where people come to rest ; for it is as quiet as a convent courtyard. In a house (No. 11), near to this little square, Calvin lived. It is needless to say that the house has been pulled down.^ It is represented now by a glaring new building which announces itself as the office of the Board of Health and offers to test milk and other articles of consumption as well as to inspect weights and measures. It is remarkable that no memorial of Calvin exists, if exception be made of the question- able chair in the Cathedral — " not a room, not a piece of furniture," writes Doumergue, " not even a gravestone." 1 " George Eliot's Life," by J. W. Cross, London, 1885. * It was demolished in 1706. 19 ,; The Lake of Geneva In the Rue du Puits St. Pierre, leading out of the Rue Calvin, is the famous Tavel house (No. 6). This is one of the most perfect of the old city houses. It is a square, solid building, supported at one corner by a round tower with a conical roof. The windows have been modernized, although their original outlines are still evident ; but there is one little slit of a window with a pointed arch which seems to have been overlooked. There is a series of very curious heads projecting from the wall of the house, which has besides a fine courtyard with a winding stair and some admirable ironwork in the forms of a fanlight and a balcony. Before the Rue de la Cite finally reaches the Bourg- de-Four it changes its name for the second time and becomes the Rue de I'Hotel de Ville. In this street (No. 8) is the Turrettini house, which claims, with the Tavel house, to be one of the few remaining specimens of the great houses of Geneva. It dates from 1620. The Turrettini were Italians who came to Geneva as Protestant refugees and who, in their new home, raised themselves to positions of dignity and repute. The house is built of stone in the classical style and is impressive by its fine proportions and its great simplicity. Two other streets of interest clamber up from the Low Town to that common meeting-place, the Bourg- de-Four. They are the Rue Verdaine and the Rue de la Fontaine. At No. 15 Rue Verdaine, Henri Amiel passed the closing days of his life. He w^as that strange, lonely and melancholy man who poured forth the dreari- ness of his soul in the Journal Intime.^ It is a morbid, egotistical and unwholesome work which would have 1 " Amiel's Journal." Translated by Mrs. Humphry Ward. London, 1889. 20 GENEVA : BOURG DE FOUR Geneva: The Old Streets been better left where it was found — locked up in a box. The house, which has not the merit of age, is now a warehouse. It looks towards the Cathedral (which stands above it) and faces that remarkable passage, the Degres de Poule or Hen Steps. The Hen Steps are entered through a rounded archway and mount up to the Cathedral. The steps, which form a stair as steep as a ladder, pass underneath some ancient buildings which were formerly stables and granaries. The Hen Steps date from 1554. At No. 32 Rue de la Fontaine is an old entry with a rounded arch that leads into an alley. The arch pierces the fragment of a wall as ancient as the doorway. The guide-book states that this wall belonged to the palace of the Bishop and that by this exit Pierre de la Baume, the last Bishop of Geneva, quitted the city on July 14, 1533. The Bourg-de-Four is an irregularly shaped place on the summit of the town, surrounded by equally irregularly shaped houses. It has a modest fountain, is shaded by some old trees and is altogether an agreeable and picturesque part of the city. Here stood the ancient Burgundian castle which w^as destroyed by the Count of Savoy in 1320. The Bourg was for centuries the social and business centre of Geneva, and a very pleasant rally- ing point it must have been. It was the place where the fairs were held and where the chief inns were located. There are still some of the old inscriptions remaining, such as the Pomme d'Or 1734, and some old signs, such as that of the Sea Shell and the Black Horse. From the last-named it would appear that it offered " bon logis *' as long ago as 1563. 21 IV GENEVA : THE OLD BUILDINGS AND THE ALLEYS THE To\vn Hall, near to the Bourg-de-Four, possesses considerable interest. Its history is very fully recorded in Professor Doumergue's work. Externally the building offers little attraction. It looks comparatively modern and presents the features of the municipal offices of any large provincial town. It has, however, an entry — built in 1617 — of greater dignity than the average municipal office attains ; while all along its front is a stone bench fit for Roman senators to sit on. In the wall to the left of the main entrance is a bronze tablet set up in 1892 to record a certain political achievement. It is in itself of no moment, but it replaced a tablet erected in 1558 in honour of the Reformation. This bronze is now in the north aisle of the Cathedral. In front of the tablet stood the pillory, and here too was a raised seat from which, as late as 1829, criminal sentences were read out. On a certain day in June, 1762, the road at the foot of the tablet was the scene of a curious ceremony. A fairly brisk fire of faggots was burning in the street, and around it, but at a careful distance, was a crowd of people whose expressions denoted var>^ng shades of indignation or disgust. In the centre of the circle was a man in a dismal costume who was busy tearing up books and thromng them on the fire. The man was the 22 Geneva: The Old Buildings common hangman and the books were the works of J. J. Rousseau. At the back of the Town Hall is the Baudet Tower, one of the oldest buildings in the city, for it dates from 1455. It is a small, low, square tower of great charm and obviously of great age. The authorities of Geneva have done their best to make it look new, but only with indifferent success. Even the upper story, which was transformed in 1894, fails to spoil it. In the comer of the picturesque court of the Town Hall is a fine Renaissance doorway bearing the date 1556. It opens upon the famous paved slope. This slope, which is unique in Europe, makes its way by a series of sharp turns to the top of the building — to the third floor, in fact. It has a vaulted roof, is paved with small cobblestones and is lit through a series of arches which open upon the courtyard. In order to realize this remarkable stairless stair one should imagine the syndic and his wife returning late in the evening from a ride in the country. They reach the Town Hall and, with- out dismounting, ride up side by side to the very door of their bedroom, where they alight from their horses. The one gracious room in the Town Hall is the State Council Chamber, which dates from the 15th century. It is small and in spite of its modern windows realizes very fitly the solemn room where Calvin imposed his will and pronounced before the awed council his edicts. The ceiling is a reproduction of that of the 16th century, while the panelling has been removed to the Museum and replaced by a commendable imitation. Round the walls are certain frescoes which were only laid bare during alterations made in 1901. They deal with Justice 23 The Lake of Geneva and depict the perfeet judge as a gentleman with his hands cut off to show that he cannot — even if he would — accept a bribe. In this room also are syndics' staffs dating as far back as 1450. The Grand Council Chamber is comparatively modern, while the very ornate Alabama Hall is only of interest from the facts that the Red Cross Society was founded here in 1864 and that within its walls in 1872 the AJahama claim was settled. Opposite the Hotel de Ville is the old market hall of 1415. It has been many times restored but is still, with its gaudily painted shutters, an impressive building. The open ground floor where the market was held is now void, while the upper part of the hall is (or was) the city armoury. Behind the Town Hall is the famous Promenade of La Treille. It is the oldest public walk in the city and, being placed on the ramparts, provides a magnificent view of the country to the south of Geneva. It is here that that poor solitarj'^ creature Ami el, the unsuccessful professor, was wont to pace to and fro pondering over the misery of life and inventing fresh expressions of melancholy for insertion in his diary. La Treille takes its origin from the early part of the 16th century. It has been frequently repaired and remade, as the dates (1557 to 1713) on the supporting wall serve to show. It is planted in all its length with chestnut trees, w^hich make it the most pleasant and best shaded walk in Geneva. Not the least noticeable feature of the terrace is the bench w^hich runs from one end of the parade to the other, for it claims the curious distinction of being the longest bench in the world. 24 GENE\ A : TOUR BAIDF.T Geneva : The Old Buildings The Cathedral of St. Peter on the summit of the town is probably as well known to European travellers as St. Peter's at Rome or St. Paul's in London. Its two square towers and its graceful steeple form the landmarks of Geneva for miles around. The first church upon this site is credited with the date 1034. The present building had its origin in the 12th and 13th centuries and provides an illustration of the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic styles. The very beautiful Gothic chapel of the Maccabees was constructed in 1406 and refashioned in 1878. The whole Cathedral has been much restored and affords an instance of the remarkable power the Genevese possess of making the most ancient building look new. The Corinthian portico which would do credit to a provincial corn exchange was added in 1759 to the permanent disfigurement of an otherwise consistent building. In the Cathedral is a plain chair " which it is supposed that Calvin employed in his pulpit." There are two other old churches in this part of Geneva — the Madeleine and St. Germain. The Made- leine, in the queer ill-shapen Place of that name, dates from the early part of the 12th century ; but was rebuilt in 1446 and in 1611 and very violently restored in recent years. Its gallant old tower (plastered over to make it appear new) has very ancient round-arched windows. The rest of the building is Gothic and is so '* done up " that it may have been built in the present century. The church of St. Germain is almost as old as the Madeleine. It is much hemmed in by mean buildings. Its one fine feature is its venerable square tower which has happily escaped the restorer. The rest of the edifice has, however, 25 The Lake of Geneva suffered severely at his hands. It is a church with a '•past," for it has been in turn a butcher's shop, a Flemish chapel and an artillery barracks. Close to the Cathedral is the Auditoire. It has been a church since 1213, except for an interval in the 16th century when it was a smithy. It was at one time a chapel for the Enghsh residents in Geneva. In the Auditoire Calvin delivered his famous lectures. On the wall is a tablet which states that John Knox, " pastor of the EngHsh residents and citizen of Geneva," preached in the chapel during the years 1555-7. The building, however, is so entirely modern in appearance that the announcement makes no impression, for it is impossible to associate this very present-day building with the 16th century and the great Scots reformer. The St. Gervais quarter of Geneva, to the north of the Rhone, presents little that is of interest. The old quartieVf surrounded by its walls and towers, occupied a very gentle slope, the summit of which is represented by the top of the Rue Cornavin. Here stood — at the end of a bridge crossing the moat — one of the main gates of Geneva. It was by this gate that most travellers entered the town, and as the railway station is situated here it happens that they still enter by the same point. As the southern town has its church of St. Peter's, so this di\'ision of Geneva has its church of St. Gervais. This church dates from the middle of the 15th century. It has a fine tower with Romanesque windows. On the south face of the tower are the arms of the bishop, Franpois de Mies, and the date 1435. The rest of the church adopts the Gothic arch, is built largely of brick, and presents, under the margin of the roof, a 26 Geneva : The Alleys cornice of modillons of the 15th century. The whole building has, however, been so thoroughly restored as to be of small interest and, being a Protestant church, is kept locked. On the outer wall of the church is a tablet giving the names of those citizens of Geneva — seventeen in all — who were killed during the Escalade of 1602. The Rue du Temple, by the side of the church, con- tains many old houses of the humbler type. One house (No. 15, for example) retains its fine ogee windows and the pointed arch of its old doorway. The street as a whole is, indeed, one of the least modernized in Geneva. The alleys of old Geneva are fast disappearing, and with them will vanish a characteristic and intimate feature of the ancient city. There are certain alleys in the southern town which are worth exploring. The Passage des Barrieres, near the Madeleine, with its steep stairs and its suspicious twists and turns, is certainly picturesque; w^hile the alley that leads from No. 24 Rue Verdaine to the Rue de la Fontaine conveys a sense almost of alarm. A narrow subway, like a working in a mine, leads to a flight of stone stairs. At the bottom of the stairs the alley skirts the base of a round tower which looks into a dank yard. Then follow a dark tunnel and finally, with some relief, the daylight of another street. The most uncanny alleys, however, are on the other side of the Rhone. Notable are those that lead from the Rue du Temple to the bank of the stream, together with a few" that slink out of the Rue Cornavin. They recall to mind every horrible story that is concerned with the darker life of a mediaeval town. Here is the narrow 27 The Lake of Geneva entry that one armed man could hold against a score. Here is the doorway, deep sunken in shadow, where the assassin with the cloak w^ould wait, and there the steps that lead to the suspicious half-open door. There are square vents in walls, each guarded by an iron grille, that let the light into no one knows what chambers of horror. There is the courtyard, green with mould and dark as a pit, that is made a haunted place by reason of the dust-covered ^\dndows which spy into it story above story. These by-\vays are deserted. They are not places to linger in, for there is an atmosphere of uneasiness about them which persists until the sunlight and the open air are once more reached. It needs but little fancy to people them wdth a hundred terrors, to imagine oneself chased dow^n these nightmare lanes and to find no way of escape, to detect footsteps creeping round the corner, to see a white face at one of the dread- ful windows, or to have the silence of a hollow courtyard rent by a heart-chilling shriek. 28 V THE ESCALADE ONE of the most dramatic events in the history of Geneva was the treacherous attempt to take the town on December 11, 1602 — an adventure known as the Escalade. It failed ; and the people of Geneva still continue to rejoice in their victory as each December comes round. No visitor can be long in Geneva without being reminded, by monument, tablet or relics, of the Escalade. The aggressor was the Duke of Savoy. Savoy never for long relaxed its efforts to seize the city, for it was obsessed by the ambition. In 1602 Geneva and Savoy were at peace. Indeed in the early part of that year some notables of Savoy had visited the city in order to discuss certain matters of common interest. They were smiling and conciliatory gentlemen who made themselves most agreeable and who yielded to Geneva's demands with great bonhomie. They admired the city and were especially interested in the walls. The Genevese felt this to be a compliment, for they were very proud of their walls. That a Savoyard should be found at night measuring the height of the wall with a stone attached to a string was regarded as the act of an enthusiast. Spring, summer and autumn went by, but nothing was heard of Savoy except kindly greetings, and yet the Duke, unable to take Geneva by force, had resolved to sneak into the city at night and massacre the inhabitants. 29 The Lake of Geneva This unheroic enterprise was planned for the darkest night of the year — December 11, which in the calendar of to-day would be December 21. An army was to lie in wait in the outskirts of Geneva while a picked body of 300 men were to creep into the town by scaling the walls. The leader of the scaling party was Brunaulieu, who knew the city wxll and hated it still better. His company was worthily equipped. Their helmets and breastplates were blackened so as to be less easily seen. They were provided with dark lanterns, with hammers to smash in doors, huge pincers to cut chains, petards and a horrible kind of two-pronged fork on a long pole. Laden on mules were ladders in sections which could be lengthened or shortened at will. These ladders were spiked at the foot for firmer holding, while at the top they were covered with felt to muffle sound. Other mules carried hurdles and faggots to be laid in the moat, which was now at its lowest. Before the Porte Neuve was closed for the night a panting countryman hurried in to announce that he had seen troops advancing towards Geneva. He w^as curtly told in reply that he was dreaming and was advised to drink less wine. A little later a cavalier passed through the gate and repeated the news, adding that the men were of Savoy. Whereupon the officer of the guard, pointing to the great wall rising from the moat, asked sarcastically, "Are these Savoyards birds that they can fly over walls and ditches ? ' ' The plan of attack will be understood by reference to the sketch opposite this page. One party was to climb over the wall of the Corraterie, seize the Porte de la Monnaie, on the one hand, and the city side of the 30 b -^ i \i UJ ^/^ 3 s _i tT^ < S^ 'L> 4^ t/) *»J 'Jr Q u E H o 5 T