Towers to visit Lausanne

Built in 1340, this former watchtower, 21 m high, is the last vestige of the ramparts that once surrounded the city. Its dimensions, 21 m high and 8 in diameter, made it one of the most spectacular elements of the town. The thickness of its walls reaches 1.75 m. The tower was classified as a historical monument in 1900 and restored in 1903. Just below, the rue de l'Ale, actually rue de la Halle but transformed by popular speech into rue de l'Aile and then l'Ale, leads to La Pinte Besson, the oldest bistro in Lausanne.

The Lausanne skyscraper was the subject of much controversy at the time of its construction and was designed by the architect Alphonse Laverrière in 1932, one year after the Empire State Building. The property developer was in New York and also wanted a large-scale building for Lausanne. Built straddling the Place Bel Air and the Flon "hole", this impressive tower rises to 54 m from the Place Bel Air and 68 m from the Rue de Genève. It houses the Salle Métropole, a listed building.