Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Genève

You can find the Saint Peter's Cathedral in Geneva's Old Town. Before the visit you may walk around on the cobblestone little streets. Any you might get lost too as I did so many times. Probably I was so much into the view of the streets, the windows of art galleries and little shops there.

The cathedral is over 850 years old and since the 16th century belongs to the Reformed Church.

The cathedral was built between 1160 - 1252. It was rebuilt several
time, the last reconstructions took place in the 18th century.

The main building of the cathedral is 64 meters long.
It has not much decoration but beautiful huge chandeliers.

 

The beautiful gothic paintings of the Maccabean chapel.

The Maccabean chapel was originaly used as a storage,
later as a schoolroom. I believe this is the most beautiful
part of the cathedral.

 

Lake Geneva



A lot of well-known people lived or holidayed by the lake: Lenin, Charlie Chaplin, Lord Byron of David Bowie, just to name a few. The Empress Elisabeth of Austria (we just call her Sisi in Hungary)was stabbed to death on the quayside in Geneva in 1898. There is a statue by the lake to remember her.

 

As I live close to it almost every day I spend some time by Bains des Paquis. Actually the place is open all year around not only for summer.

If you fancy to feed the ducks and swans or have a casual meal this can be a right spot for you.

 

I will be most probably there, too.

 

When the sun is up.



When there is no sun...



....but still beautiful.

 

 

Gundi Dietz at the Ariana Museum

In the beautiful Ariana Museum there is an exhibition of Gundi Dietz. Her busts, full-length figures are often females, sometimes asexual or from the animal world. The artist works are extremely detailed, the fragments of clothing, expression lines, tatoos make the works unique and make you stay in the room for hours.

 

The exhibition is accompanied by a beautiful catalogue.

 

It is highly recommended to visit the museum not only for this exhibition but the permanent collection also.

Heaven for those who love ceramics, porcelain and glass works from all over the world!



A leading figure in Austrian ceramics.

Porcelain is the artist's preferred medium.

Whatever the posture of the works, the gaze is always hidden.

My favourite pieces.

Animal world.

Exhibition catalogue.

Exbition catalogue.

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Genève

Basically this museum became my second home in Geneva. With my previous job I spent 5 years at the Museum of Fine Arts - Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest, so I was no surprised at all.
The size of the museum is a lot smaller - well, Geneva is a small city anyway - but the collection worth every minute of the visit.
The hall of the museum has several paintings of the swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler. In the collection there are a lot of self portraits of the artist and also a lot of painting of the Lake Geneva.
And many more to see of course!

 



The Victoria Hall in Geneva

What an amazing place! The Victoria Hall was constructed between 1891 and 1894 as a tribute to the queen of England.

 

The historical background (that I just copy+paste from the website) is so romantic:

Resident in Geneva since his youth, Daniel Fitzgerald Packenham Barton (1850-1907), the British Consul, enjoyed two lifelong passions, sailing and music, and possessed private means which more than allowed him to indulge in both. He was able to maintain a personal fleet of boats on the lake, to create the Harmonie nautique, a wind symphony orchestra, in 1883, and to build a concert hall dedicated to his sovereign, Queen Victoria, and designed by the Geneva architect, John Camoletti.

In 1904, Barton donated the building to the City of Geneva. 80 years later, the interior was partly destroyed in a fire and the City undertook its restoration.

 

The Hungarian Association in Geneva organised a concert here for the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution (1956) on the 23rd of October.

 

The first part of the concert I stayed at the ground floor but for the second part I moved to the second floor as I wanted to stay close to the ceiling and be able to admire the hall in full.

Wonderful evening with beautiful music and touching remembering speeches.

 

 

 

Victoria Hall, Geneva

What a view!

It is always nice to discover the details of the building.

I took this picture after the concert. Amazing space.

Fête du Théâtre Genève

I am on my way to TAMCO for a reharsal of a theatre play (Théâtre Pitoëff).
It will be an exciting experience as the play is in French and my current
knowledge of the language is basic. The program is part of the
Fête du Théâtre in Geneva.
   

Geneva (new love)

When I decided to take a break from work it was no question about the destination.  I came to Geneva for the first time this year in July and fell in love with the city. I want to learn French in the coming months and get to know this amazing city.

Today right after picking up my apartment keys I went to the lakeside.

The colour of the lake was amazing, a lot darker than summer. Blue. Crystal clear.