|
LausannePage 2
ABOVE: Lausanne's 13th Century cathedral is on a hill above the Haute Ville or old town. LocationLausanne is roughly midway along the northern shore of Lac Léman, as Lake Geneva is known outside the canton of Genève. The elegant small resort cities of Montreux and Vevey are to the east, separated from Lausanne by the Lavaux Corniche coastal road with its vineyards and wine villages. France is just 35 minutes across the lake by boat, and the mountains of Haute Savoie are clearly visible on a sunny day. The city of Lausanne is built on three hills. The climb from the lakeside resort area of Ouchy to the Haute Ville, or Upper Town, is steep enough that the original Métro connecting Ouchy to Lausanne's main railway station and the Flon nightlife district was was a funicular and, later, a cogwheel railroad. HistoryArchaeologists report that Lausanne's Haute Ville was occupied in Neolithic times. The first Christian bishop showed up shortly before 700 AD, and a cathedral was built about 200 years later.
Perhaps the most significant historical event in Lausanne was the Reformation, which arrived with a sermon by Guallaume Farel in 1529. By 1536, Lausanne had largely swapped Catholicism for Calvinism, and both the city and its canton have been Protestant ever since. Next page: Sightseeing and excursions
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||