and in influence, while the Christian Catholics are losing ground
rapidly, the highest number of votes received by a candidate
for the conseil supérieur having fallen from 2003 in 1874 to 806
in 1890 and 507 in 1906, while they are abandoning the country
churches (some were lost as early as 1892) which they had taken
from the Romanists in the course of the Kulturkampf.
The fairs of Geneva (held 4 times a year) are mentioned as early as 1262, and attained the height of their prosperity about 1450, but declined after Louis XI.’s grants of 1462–1463 in favour of the fairs of Lyons. Among the Industry. chief articles brought to these fairs (which were largely frequented by Italian, French and Swiss merchants) were cloth, silk, armour, groceries, wine, timber and salt, this last coming mainly from Provence. The manufacturers of Geneva formed in 1487 no fewer than 38 gilds, including tailors, hatters, mercers, weavers, tanners, saddle-makers, furriers, shoe-makers, painters on glass, &c. Goldsmiths are mentioned as early as 1290. Printing was introduced in 1478 by Steinschaber of Schweinfurth, and flourished much in the 16th century, though the rigorous supervision exercised by the Consistory greatly hampered the Estiennes (Stephanus) in their enterprises. Nowadays the best known industry at Geneva is that of watchmaking, which was introduced in 1587 by Charles Cusin of Autun, and two years later regulations as to the trade were issued. In 1685 there were in Geneva 100 master watchmakers, employing 300 work-people, who turned out 5000 pieces a year, while in 1760 this trade employed 4000 work-people. Of recent years its prosperity has diminished greatly, so that the watchmaking and jewelry trades in 1902 numbered respectively but 38 and 32 of the 394 establishments in Geneva which were subject to the factory laws. Lately, huge establishments have been constructed for the utilization of the power contained in the Rhone. The local commerce of Geneva is much aided by the fact that the city is nearly entirely surrounded by “free zones,” in which no customs duties are levied, though the districts are politically French: this privilege was given to Gex in 1814, and to the Savoyard districts in 1860, when they were also neutralized.
Considering the small size of Geneva, till recently, it is surprising how many celebrated persons have been connected with it as natives or as residents. Here are a few of the principal, special articles being devoted to many of them in this Celebrities. work. In the 16th century, besides Calvin and Bonivard, we have Isaac Casaubon, the scholar; Robert and Henri Estienne, the printers, and, from 1572 to 1574, Joseph Scaliger himself, though but for a short time. J. J. Rousseau is, of course, the great Genevese of the 18th century. At that period, and in the 19th century, Geneva was a centre of light, especially in the case of various of the physical sciences. Among the scientific celebrities were de Saussure, the most many-sided of all; de Candolle and Boissier, the botanists; Alphonse Favre and Necker, the geologists; Marignac, the chemist; Deluc, the physicist, and Plantamour, the astronomer. Charles Bonnet was both a scientific man and a philosopher, while Amiel belonged to the latter class only. Pradier and Chaponnière, the sculptors; Arlaud, Diday and Calame, the artists; Mallet, who revealed Scandinavia to the literary world; Necker, the minister; Sismondi, the historian of the Italian republics; General Dufour, author of the great survey which bears the name of the “Dufour Map,” have each a niche in the Temple of Fame. Of a less severe type were Cherbuliez, the novelist; Töpffer, who spread a taste for pedestrianism among Swiss youth; Duchosal, the poet; Marc Monnier, the littérateur; not to mention the names of any persons still living, or of politicians of any date.
The city of Geneva is situated at the south-western extremity
of the beautiful lake of the same name, whence the “arrowy
Rhone” flows westwards under the seven bridges by
which the two halves of the town communicate with
each other.The city and
its buildings. To the south is the valley of the Arve
(descending from the snows of the Mont Blanc chain),
which unites with that of the Rhone a little below the town;
while behind the Arve the grey and barren rocks of the Petit
Salève rise like a wall, which in turn is overtopped by the distant
and ethereal snows of Mont Blanc. Yet the actual site of the
town is not as picturesque as that of several other spots in
Switzerland. Though the cathedral crowns the hillock round
which clusters the old part of the town, a large portion of the
newer town is built on the alluvial flats on either bank of the
Rhone. Since the demolition of the fortifications in 1849 the
town has extended in every direction, and particularly on the
right bank of the Rhone. It possesses many edifices, public
and private, which are handsome or elegant, but it has almost
nothing to which the memory reverts as a masterpiece of architectural
art. It is possible that this is, in part, due to the artistic
blight of the Calvinism which so long dominated the town. But,
while lacking the medieval appearance of Fribourg or Bern, or
Sion or Coire, the great number of modern fine buildings in
Geneva, hotels, villas, &c., gives it an air of prosperity and
comfort that attracts many visitors, though on others modern
French architecture produces a blinding glare. On the other
hand, there are broad quays along the river, while public gardens
afford grateful shade.
The cathedral (Protestant) of St Pierre is the finest of the older buildings in the city, but is a second-rate building, though as E. A. Freeman remarks, “it is an excellent example of a small cathedral of its own style and plan, with unusually little later alteration.” The hillock on which it rises was no doubt the site of earlier churches, but the present Transitional building dates only from the 12th and 13th centuries, while its portico was built in the 18th century, after the model of the Pantheon at Rome. It contains a few sepulchral monuments, removed from the cloisters (pulled down in 1721), and a fine modern organ, but the historical old bell La Clémence has been replaced by a newer and larger one which bears the same name. More interesting than the church itself is the adjoining chapel of the Maccabees, built in the 15th century, and recently restored. Near the cathedral are the arsenal (now housing the historical museum, in which are preserved many relics of the “Escalade” of 1602, including the famous ladders), and the maison de ville or town hall. The latter building is first mentioned in 1448, but most of the present building dates from far later times, though the quaint paved spiral pathway (taking the place of a staircase in the interior) was made in the middle of the 16th century. In the Salle du Conseil d’État some curious 15th-century frescoes have lately been discovered, while the old Salle des Festins is now known as the Salle de l’Alabama, in memory of the arbitration tribunal of 1872. In the 15th-century Tour Baudet, adjoining the Town Hall, are preserved the rich archives of the city. Not far away is the palais de justice, built in 1709 as a hospital, but used as a court house since 1858. On the Île in the Rhone stands the tower (built c. 1219) of the old castle belonging to the bishop. Among the modern buildings we may mention the following: the University (founded in 1559, but raised to the rank of a University in 1873 only), the Athénée, the Conservatoire de Musique, the Victoria Hall (a concert hall, presented in 1904 to the city by Mr Barton, formerly H.B.M.’s Consul), the theatre, the Salle de la Réformation (for religious lectures and popular concerts), the Bâtiment Electoral, the Russian church and the new post office. At present the museums of various kinds at Geneva are widely dispersed, but a huge new building in course of construction (1906) will ultimately house most of them. The Musée Rath contains pictures and sculptures; the Musée Fol, antiquities of various dates; the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, inter alia, a fine collection of prints; the Musée Industriel, industrial objects and models; the Musée Archéologique, prehistoric and archaeological remains; the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, scientific collections; and the Musée Epigraphique, a considerable number of inscriptions. Some way out of the town is the Musée Ariana (extensive art collections), left, with a fine park, in 1890 to the city by a rich citizen, Gustave Revilliod. The public library is in the university buildings and contains many valuable MSS. and printed books. Geneva boasts also of a fine observatory and of a number of technical schools (watchmaking, chemistry, medicine, commerce, fine arts, &c.), some of which are really annexes of the university, which in June 1906 was attended by 1158 matriculated students, of whom 903
