PLACE DU BOURG-DE-FOUR
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Place dear to the Genevans who like to come and have a coffee, meeting place since always, place of the first fairs.
A mythical and above all historical place in the heart of the old town. This place has a crazy charm with its slender buildings, the place du Bourg-de-Four is a cult place in Geneva. But what does "Bourg de Four" mean? In the past, "de Four" meant "outside" the city and the ramparts where the cattle and wheat market was held, it was called "Bourg du marché".
The Genevans like to meet there, in the heart of the old town, for a little serenity and to have a drink in one of the many cafés around the pretty flowered fountain restored in 1817. But it is not new, already the Romans had established on this place their forum, then, in the Middle Ages, it was the place of fairs and markets. In order to accommodate the Protestant exiles in the middle of the 16th century, the houses that form its perimeter were raised. This is well explained in the nearby Reformation Museum. Among the buildings that can be admired today, some date back to the 16th century, while others, the most opulent, date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. At the origin of the Palace of Justice, whose facade dates from the 18th century, stood a convent of Poor Clares and, until 1857, the general hospital.
As you pass by, look up and see the statue of King Gondebaud (455-516 approx.) king of the Burgundians in 470. In fact, he agreed to give his daughter-in-law Clotilde to the king of the Franks in 493. Clotilde the Catholic converted him and contributed to the Christianization of the Franks.
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