Switzerland Guide
Geneva
Plainpalais
Plainpalais is one of Geneva's most engaging young neighbourhoods. From the Place du Cirque at Plainpalais' northern tip, Boulevard de St-Georges heads due west and, a short way along, a brick wall conceals the Cimitière de Plainpalais, permanent home to, among others, Sir Humphry Davy, who invented the miners' lamp. Gravestone #707, close to the wall and the object of much recent care, is marked only with a faint "J.C.": this is presumed to be the last resting place of Calvin. Behind, Rue de la Coulouvrenière feeds into the atmospheric Place des Volontaires, with a scattering of cafés and the L'Usine squat, Geneva's biggest alternative arts venue, with galleries, a theatre space, music venue, café and more. The riverfront Quai des Forces Motrices, also with cafés and clubs, is dominated by the arched windows of the Bâtiments des Forces Motrices, which once housed gigantic hydraulic turbines supplying the city with water and which has now been converted into a massive space for opera and drama. Further along Boulevard de St-Georges is the rundown district of Jonction, at the point where the Arve meets the Rhône; residents have a tradition, in the torrid days of summer, of flinging themselves off the Pont de Sous-Terre for a refreshing float downstream in the cool water.