Parc des Eaux-Vives

Located adjacent to Parc La Grange, Parc des Eaux-vives enjoys a stunning situation with its beautiful trees and lawns overlooking the lake and the Jura. It is an impressive site which has combined beauty and nature for almost 5 centuries.

Parks and gardens

History and development

The estate was created in 1565 by the Lord of Bellerive: Aimé Plonjon. Successive owners developed the park over several centuries. The manor house was built in 1750. The estate was purchased in 1865 by the future designer of the Gothard Tunnel (a mammoth project undertaken in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century), the engineer Louis Favre. In 1896, thirteen years after his death (in the tunnel), his daughter sold the estate to the Société de l’industrie des hôtels (the forerunner of the Tourist Office), which developed a funfair in the park including a theatre, slide, miniature train, menagerie and even aeronautical demonstrations. The municipality of les Eaux-Vives bought the park when the funfair filed for bankruptcy in 1913.

In 1928, the upper reaches of the park welcomed the Geneva Eaux-Vives Tennis Club. Transformed on several occasions, the manor house was already a restaurant at the end of the 19th century and now houses the Hôtel-Restaurant du Parc des Eaux-Vives, which regularly welcomes famous guests.

eau qui coule comme une cascade dans un parc

The name “Eaux-Vives” comes from the numerous springs and other streams in the area (now flowing through conduits underneath the parks and roads) which supply the city with drinking water. One of these springs was located at the very centre of the park, where a waterfall now tumbles through the rock garden with its alpine plants.

The park is home to a variety of magnificent trees including fir trees, pines and impressive sequoias which alone are worth the visit. Huge beds of rhododendrons and azaleas complete the magic during the springtime. The vast lawn sloping gently down from the restaurant terrace towards the lake only enhances the beauty of the setting.

Amenities

Rock garden with a collection of perennial and alpine plants.
“Mazot” from the Swiss village built for the National Exhibition of 1896.
Public toilets.

Dogs are allowed on the paths through the park if kept on a leash.
The closest open area for dogs is located in Parc la Grange along Route de Frontenex and at the top of Rue William Favre.

Ecological management

The City’s parks and gardens are managed ecologically without any chemical products being used. Biodiversity is promoted in Parc des Eaux-Vives, in particular through the reproduction sites for wood-boring insects, native shrubs and meadows and late mowing of the verges.