Switzerland Guide
Geneva
Jet d'Eau
The Jet d'Eau fountain is the icon of Geneva and, emblazoned on every piece of tourist literature and book about the city, it is inescapable. The original fountain dated from 1886, when the new hydraulic turbines on the river built up excessive water pressure each evening after the city's craftsmen had closed the valves in their workshops and gone home. While a reservoir system was being developed to get around the problem, an engineer created a temporary outlet which spurted a 30m fountain to release the pressure. Once the reservoir system was finished, the fountain beacame purely decorative and was moved to its present position and furnished with more pumps. The height of the jet today is an incredible 140m with 500 litres of water forced out of the nozzle every second at about 200kph. On windy days the plume can rapidly drench the surroundings but it's worth taking a dousing by walking out onto the jetty to appreciate the force and noise close up.
Opening time: May to mid-Sept daily 9am-11.15pm; March, April and mid-Sept to Oct Mon-Fri 10am-sunset, Sat and Sun 10am-10.30pm; Nov-Feb daily 10am-4pm