Genève médiévale II: atop the cathedral

Inscription of unknown meaning spotted climbing the tower stairs

Apologies for the lately-renewed delay: I had promised to review a couple of volumes, the time has only lately become free to do so and it feels rather as if the first one is trying to kill me… But we soldier on, and so the slow progress through my backlog takes me to about this time last year, when for reasons I shan’t trouble you with I was in Geneva. You may remember that I mentioned being there before and gave you some photos of the subterranean archæological site at the cathedral; you may also remember that I had to get most of those on my second visit, because of camera battery death on the first. On the second, however, we also went up the tower, and so this is just a gratuitous photo post for some of the pictures that got me.

Inside the roof space of the westwork, between the towers, a photo taken through sturdy wire fencing

As you can see in this picture (not mine), the cathedral has three towers, one central and very Gothic and the other two both taller and blockier. If you pay to get into the tower, you go up stairs in the westwork and surface just where the central tower emerges from the roof, through which you are then channeled off to one side. Thereafter, one goes round one of the square towers then up and then round again. At all points, therefore, one is given tremendous views of the city…

The Lac de Genève and bits of the city, viewed from low down the tower

… and frustratingly awkward perspectives on the actual building!

Apse of the cathedral and bits of Geneva

Nave, dome and some pre-Alps the Jura mountains in the distance

View of the city rudely interrupted by cruciform ornamentation

Of course, one is moving through architecture at all points anyway…

Capitals and columns fenced off from the viewer, and presumably on the west front

Passing through some of the exterior pointy bits

A long-term occupant determined to remain oblivious to the visitors

… but it was hard for me to make it all join up.

This potentially helpful maquette was sadly locked behind glass through which the sunlight made it almost impossible to see; the camera has done better than I could

And of course the other problem is a more literal one of perspective: one is so close to it all that one needs a lens angle that my old camera simply didn’t permit. The result is me attempting things like this:

Top…

… middle…

… and junction with the roof of the west-work, the other square tower barely visible beyond

I do complain, but obviously it’s marvellous, and well worth the climb and Euros francs. Hopefully you get something out of the photos without having to undertake the labour!