Location: Geneva
Geneva is a city and Swiss commune located near the French border,
capital of the Canton of Geneva. It is the most populated city of
Romandía and the second one of Switzerland after Zurich. It is
located at the exit of the Rhone from Lake Geneva and is the capital
of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The municipality itself (la
ville de Genève) has a population (in August 2013) of 194 458
inhabitants and the canton (which includes the city) has 474 169
inhabitants. In 2011, the metropolitan area (Grand Genève) had a
population of 915,000 inhabitants including the French part. In
Swiss territory, the transit area (known as Métropole lémanique) had
a population of 1.25 million inhabitants. This area extends east of
Geneva towards the Riviera area (Vevey, Montreux) and northeast
towards Yverdon-les-Bains, in the neighboring canton of Vaud.
Geneva is a global city, financial and global center of diplomacy
due to the presence of numerous international organizations,
including the headquarters of many of the United Nations agencies
and the Red Cross.In fact, Geneva is the city that It houses the
largest number of international organizations in the world, and it
is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, which
mainly refer to the treatment, in war situations, of non-combatants
and prisoners of war.
Geneva was positioned as the ninth most important financial world
center in terms of competitiveness in the Global Index of Financial
Centers, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe after London and
Zurich, a 2009 survey by Mercer shows that Geneva It is the third
city with the highest quality of life in the world (behind Vienna
and Zurich). The city has been known as the most compact metropolis
in the world and the "capital of peace." However, between 2009 and
2011, Geneva ranked as the fourth and fifth city, respectively, the
most expensive in the world.
Musee d’Art et d’HistoireRue Charles- Galland 2
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum |
Palais des NationsAvenue de la Paix 14
Jet d'Eau |
History
Antiquity
The Roman submission of the country of the Allobroges (Vienna)
invade from 121 BC Geneva becomes an outpost north of the province
of Transalpine Gaul (take the name Gaul Narbonne from the reign of
Augustus). The development of a port intervenes in 123 BC - 25 AD
The city is then made up of a modest agglomeration where dwellings
are built of wood and mud. Geneva makes history in 58 BC when Julius
Caesar mentions his passage in this city (Genava) in his De Bello
Gallico (I, 6 and 7). Caesar prevents the passage of the Rhone by
the Helvetii, who try either to tie boats together to make a
floating passage (ratis) or to ford (De Bello Gallico, I 8). When
Caesar settles temporarily with his troops in 58 BC. AD, the oppidum
is still growing and then becomes a Roman city (vicus then civitas).
Nevertheless, Nyon (Colonia Julia Equestris) then Avenches
(Aventicum) occupy a more important place in the regional urban
network. After a fire in the middle of the i st century, urban
planning is modified and the constructions in stone are replacing
buildings of light materials. The migration ALEMANES cause the
destruction of all built in the last quarter of the iii th century.
The first Christian sanctuary is established around 350 AD. At the
end of the iv th century, the complex was completed: it consists of
a church of more than thirty meters long bordered by an access
portal to the baptistery and its Annex In the upper town, the
Saint-Germain represents the v th century a second focal point of
the early Christian times. The installation of Burgondes in 443 and
the choice of Geneva as capitalreinforce the political role of the
city. The center of the kingdom of Burgundy moving towards 467 in
Lyon, Geneva suffered the fratricidal wars between Godégisel and
Gondebaud which burned the city. Until the end of the High Middle
Ages, we observe a continuity of occupation whose best example is
the Episcopal group. The limits of the city are maintained within
the walls of the Lower Empire but the suburbs close to large
cemeteries are developing. The landslide of Mount Tauredunum in 563
causes a tidal wave that destroyed the port and many dead. At the
beginning of the Middle Ages, succeeding the horizontal development
peculiar to the Roman period, the urban space was reduced and
densified by giving a medieval city more and more built in height
under the constraints imposed by the construction of the
fortifications.
Middle Ages
The structure of power between the arrival of the Burgundians and
the Treaty of Seyssel 1124 been the subject of debates that are not
closed now. In front of the Burgundian king, the bishop possesses
spiritual authority. But the dynastic quarrels weaken the Burgundian
monarchy which disappears in 534 in favor of the Franks . Geneva
becomes then the center of a pagus , the county of Geneva , which
depends on the reigning king in Orleans or the king of Neustrie .
From the time of the Carolingians , the diocese of Geneva is the
stake of power struggles between the rulers of the region and the
emperor. During thesharing of Verdun in 843 between the three son of
Louis I st the Debonair , Geneva enters the kingdom devolved to
Lothair , who will become the Lorraine. In 855, a new partition
takes place by the Prüm treaty between the three sons of Lothaire .
On this occasion, Geneva, Lausanne and Sion pass under the
sovereignty of the eldest son Louis II, King of Italy and Emperor.
In 875, on the death of Louis II, the diocese of Geneva passes under
the sovereignty of his uncle Charles II the Bald , who gives it in
appanage to his eldest son Louis le Bègue , future king of the
Franks from 877 to 879. The 15 October 879 is created onKingdom of
Burgundy or Kingdom of Provence des Bosonides (879-928), of which
Geneva becomes an integral part, with the election by an assembly of
notables of Boson , brother-in-law of Charles the Bald and Count of
Autun , Duke of Lyonnais and of Provence. In 888, the death of
Boson, then king of Provence and Burgundy Transjurane, creates a new
kingdom of Burgundy, the kingdom of Burgundy Transjurane of Welf
(888-1032) with the proclamation of Rodolphe I of Burgundy (859-911
). The bishop of Geneva is one of the prelates swearing loyalty to
Rodolphe at theterritorial abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune .
Rodolphe is of the family of Welf , lords of Upper Burgundy; he
marries Willa, daughter of Boson. The bishopric of Geneva is part of
the kingdom of Burgundy transjurane for 250 years at the head of
which succeed Rodolphe II, Conrad the Pacific, his son, and Rodolphe
III of Burgundy , his son. This one dies in 1032 and according to
his will, the kingdom of Burgundy becomes possession of Conrad II
the Salic Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Their sovereign becoming
more distant, all the successive bishops of Geneva will fight
relentlessly to make recognize their regal rights, particularly
against the ambitions of the Counts of Geneva, lords of the
surrounding lands. Thus, if he exercises a certain number of
sovereign rights like that of coining money , the bishop does not
receive the county rights in one or the other part of his diocese
which are exerted by the count of Geneva which has a castle above
Bourg-de-Four.