Anecdotes about the Servette Petit-Saconnex district

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Vestiges of the past

The Servette/Petit-Saconnex district has changed considerably throughout its history. Until the end of the 19th century, the area was covered by forest and large bourgeois estates. Many tokens of this rural past remain:

• Half a farm, whitewashed and boasting a little flower garden at the end of rue Chandieu;
• the Budé farm at the top of the chemin Moïse-Duboule, with its meadow in the middle of the buildings;
• Street names with a rural ring: chemin du Bois-Gentil, chemin des Coudriers, rue de la Prairie, chemin des Vignes, rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette…

There are also numerous hundred-year-old trees in the district. The large Lebanese cedar in the Parc Beaulieu and the giant sequoia in the Parc Trembley, more than 200 years old, also figure among the curiosities of the district. 

A football club that shares its name with the district

The Geneva-based football club, Servette FC, owes its name to the fact that the football stadium was built in the Servette district. Replaced in 2003 by the Stade de Genève in la Praille, the old stadium is due to be demolished. Housing and a public park will be built on the site. Did you know that the football team was formed in 1890 from a… rugby team? Learn more about the history of Servette FC

A park in homage to the state of Vermont

The Parc de Vermont does not refer to the countryside. The builder of the Maison Vermont, Antoine-Edouard Aubert (1820-1877), member of the Grand Council, gave it this name in homage to the place of origin of his American wife.

Source: Georges Turrian, Genève... ses parcs et promenades, Yens-sur-Morges, 2005.