Trams, Art Museum and Tavel House

Today we took a tram ride around Old Town and saw this floral clock. We had seen gardeners doing the planting the day before.



Part of the old city wall



The statue of four reformers - William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. The Christogram can be seen below the statues. A short history of the Reformation can be found here.





After that we walked to the main Art Museum and saw a number of paintings, two by Van Gogh, a Cezanne, a Pisarro, a Monet, a Sisley and a Corot along with a number of paintings by Swiss artists.  There also we saw some of the original stained glass windows from St. Peter's Church, There were three from the 1440's and four from 1845 - 1500. The one below is of Mary Magdalene and was made between 1485 and 1500. These were taken down in 1888 and their replacements are in St. Peter's now. It was restored in 1924.




Maison Tavel, meaning Tavel House, is the oldest house in Geneva, built in the 12th century by the Maison family. In 1334, the house was reconstructed following a devastating fire. In 1963, the house was purchased by the city of Geneva and remade into the museum of history of Geneva.



Maison Tavel has several floors as well as an underground full of various exhibits, artifacts and historical objects focusing on Geneva's city history, mostly during medieval times. There was a beautiful multimedia screening to screen and 3D map of a short movie about the history of Geneva from its early days into modern times called "Geneva, history made-to-measure".



THere were various rooms, such as this kitchen.



The highlight of the museum is the top floor, hosting the huge 3D map of Geneva town from 1850, when Geneva was smaller and still had fortifications.



We ended the travel day with a tram  ride on the shores of the left bank to see an area of beautiful mansions with views of the lake.  It was an interesting way to end our time in Geneva.  Tomorrow we take the train to Interlaken.