Tuesday 16 October 2012

3 Top Museums in Geneva


When you are travelling to the Geneva, airport transfers are the best way to get into the city to see all that the second largest city in Switzerland has to offer. Situated in the French speaking part of Switzerland, Geneva is a global hub of finance, culture, history, business, and education. Previously, it was a simple border town when the Romans took control of it in 121 B.C. From there, it grew and became a mostly self-governing city in the last part of the fourteenth century, and, during the sixteenth century, John Calvin famously founded the Protestant sect of Calvinism. In 1815, Geneva joined the Swiss Confederation and throughout the next centuries, the city and its arts flourished. With such a rich array of choices for furthering your knowledge of the city's art and history, be sure to see the Art and History Museum, Les Délices, and the Olympic Museum.

The Art and History Museum

After you fly into the Geneva airport, transfers to the city will make it quick and easy to get to the centre, where the large and impressive Art and History Museum is located in Les Tranchées. Built between 1903 and 1910, the museum has a huge exhibition space of 75,000 square feet. As an institution, the museum opened as the Musée des Beaux-Arts in 1826 in the building that the Rath Museum now occupies. The collection itself stretches over a large period, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, and boasts a variety of French, Italian, Dutch, Genevan and Swiss schools. As you wander around, be sure to look for the works by Rembrandt, Paul Cézanne and Rodin, before exploring the applied arts sections which boasts Byzantine arts, weapons, icons and household items. The section for archaeology showcases findings from European prehistory, Egypt, and a variety of Middle Eastern finds.

Les Délices

As you arrive in Geneva, airport transfers will take you into the city where you can visit the home of Voltaire, which is known as Les Délices. Voltaire is the famous French philosopher and writer and he occupied the house from 1755 to 1760. Due to the ways the laws worked in those days, Voltaire, as a foreigner, couldn't buy the house so he, instead, purchased a life interest in the estate. Les Délices now houses the Voltaire Institute and Museum with a library that has more than 25,000 books.

The Olympic Museum

As you head back to the Geneva airport, transfers can give you a bit of extra time to allow you to visit the Olympic Museum to explore the history of some of the greatest games in the world. On the shores of the famous lake, the museum is located in a modern facility that explores the heritage of the games and their importance in history. Currently the museum is closed for renovations, but it will be back on track before the next games in Rio.