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| Old Geneva |
We climbed the narrow cobble paved streets past signs indicating where Jean Calvin, George Elloit, and other famous types had lived, turned a corner and found St Pierre tight against its own square, classical front backed by an eclectic mix of styles and towers - a work long in progress.
The architecture of the church was fascinating and beautiful, and we walked round it pointing out the different styles, the odd gargoyles, and the historic surroundings. But the real find was the museum excavated into its foundations.
During a recent major restoration of the church, extensive archaeological evidence of its past was found under its floors. Its was excavated and the church floor rebuilt above it. Now a museum, it is beautifully interpreted, showing the progression through three stages as a church and monestary, each time expanded and revised to meet the needs of a changing community and church.
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| St. Pierre |
Geneva was established as a Roman city in 58 AD when Julius Cesar set camp there and remained Roman until 443 AD. The first Christian church was built in the 4th century.
Most amazing to me was evidence of the earlier pre-Roman community and the skeleton of a pagan man buried long before the construction of the church, with the church built with its crossing directly over him. This is interpreted as evidence that there was a pre-Christian site of veneration co-opted by the church to enhance its relevance to the locals, then long forgotten. Christianity shows surprising flexibility sometimes.
We had a great time following the interpretive path below the church, tracing the history of the church and the old city, back and forth trying to integrate the various sites and get our heads around the expanse of time presented. It was utterly fascinating.
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| Ann Views the Mosaic |
From St. Pierre's we walked around the corner to the Reformation Museum. It was interesting to see artifacts and read some of the history of the Reformation, but though nicely displayed, I thought this museum lacked the continuity of narrative that we found under St. Pierre.
On our exit we scoured the gift shop for oddities, ending with a hilariously conceived box of chocolates called of all things, "Petite Calvins". How odd for the great churchman and reformer to have his visage stamped on a silly truffle. Just as much fun was the Calvin cutout out front where tourists can insert their face onto Calvin's body, like the bodybuilder cutouts at the fair. Commercialism is universal, I guess, even at religious sites.
We had one more day in Geneva before we had to end our trip to Europe, this time alone as Kim had to return to work tomorrow.
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| Outside the Reformation Museum |
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| Pagen Chief Buried Under the Crossing |
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| St Pierre's Towers |
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| Inside St Pierre |
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