Place du Bourg-de-Four
Cobbled medieval market square centered on a stone fountain rebuilt by masons across four centuries.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Place du Bourg-de-Four in Geneva follows the fountain at the center of the old town's medieval market square, a working trough since the fifteen-seventies that has been rebuilt across four centuries by stonecutters whose names outlasted the merchants around them. It traces the square's life as a farmers' and traders' forum going back to the twelve hundreds, then follows the fountain's repairs through Jean Devaux in sixteen twenty-four, Joseph Pechaubet's full rebuild in seventeen seventy-two, and Frederic Dubied's work in the eighteen-teens. Look up at the carved stone vase on top, with its Renaissance flowers and ornamental artichoke, before you move on.
This audio guide was created using AI.