Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and Archaeology Site

One of my favourite places in Geneva was the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, located close to the Maison Tavel in the heart of the old city. The current building was constructed in the 1100s, and today is a cathedral of the Swiss Reformed Church.

Belonging to John Calvin, a leader of the Protestant Reformation, whose home church this was.

The Chapel of the Maccabees within the cathedral was especially ornate:

Directly beneath the cathedral is a 3000-square-metre archaeological site! There are more than 200 distinct phases of construction at this religious site dating back to at least the 1st century BCE, and excavations took place here 1976-2006. Now it's been adapted for visitors, with walkways through the site, scale models, audiovisual presentations, and plenty of artifacts. A free audio guide explained each area of the site, as did bilingual information panels.

The remains of a bell casting. "It is the diameter... that leads us to attribute it
to the Clemence, greatest bell of the cathedral, cast in 1407 thanks to a gift by Robert
of Geneva, pope at Avignon (antipope) from 1342-94 under the name Clement VII.
The casting of the bell was done in a pit, into which the mould was lowered and then interred,
to avoid explosion due to the pressure of molten metal." (Info panel)

The model in the above photo had a very unusual feature: it's entirely incorrect. It was made almost 20 years ago, and subsequent archaeological excavations have radically changed scholarly opinion about the settlement pattern of Geneva in this time period (6th century CE). I liked how this museum kept it on display as a learning tool, to demonstrate the changeable nature of archaeology and our understanding of the past, instead of deciding that its inaccuracy made it worthless. 

A computer station with recorded interviews explaining how the museum was put together!

(Above) Throughout the site there was a colour-coded scheme to denote the age of distinct context layers.

Below is a photo of the burial at the heart of the cathedral. An Allobrogian chief from the 1st century BCE was buried here, and eventually a small building was constructed over it as a place of veneration. The religious site gradually expanded into a larger complex and witnessed the change to Christianity, eventually resulting in the cathedral that's visible today. 

The tiled surface to the right of the burial is thought to be the remains of
an early altar built in connection to it.

Roman mosaic remains underneath the cathedral

Model of the religious complex in the 7th century CE.

Photo of a photo, showing the cathedral's location in relation to the lake fountain.