Or Genève, as it's called in French - which is the official language in the Genève canton of Switzerland is located at the very outskirts of Switzerland (75% of the canton's borderlines are leading to France - not Switzerland). A little more than 180.000 people live here in what is probably the smallest metropole of the World. Of these, an incredible 43% are foreign, which might also make Geneva one of the most intercultural (important) cities of the world. It's not uncommon to see Jews, Muslims (you know the women totally covered in clothes so that only their eyes can be seen), Africans (dressed up as something from coming to America and nuns in the same bus (try that in the Middle East and I guess the noise can be heard all the way to the moon - (which is of course impossible due to the vacuum in outer space (and I do apologize my extensive use of nested brackets))). The presence of all these strange people is mainly due to the fauna of international organizations that find the city to be a convenient place to have the headquarters. Hence - a lot of people with greater or lesser diplomatic immunity surf the city.

In Geneva everything is expensive, except for cars, petrol and electronics. The former two mainly due to the fact that Geneva is one of the cities in the world having the greatest number of cars per capita.

Should you ever consider stopping by, don't miss out strolling down rue du Marché, going to Bains de Pâquis, climbing the small alleys of the old town, seeing Jet d'Eau and taking a small trip to places like Alhambar, Rêve d'O and Macumba.

Geneva is also the name of sans-serif font widely used in the Mac OS interface. It is similar in style to the fonts arial and helvetica, and these three are often used as alternate fonts in web design. Windows does not have Geneva installed by default, but Arial is a fairly close match. Thus, you can be pretty confident of consistency across these two platforms by specifying the typeface as "geneva, arial, helvetica"

Hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland, Geneva is a five-piece rock band that have released two albums to date.

They are fronted by singer Andrew Montgomery, whose angelic voice sets the band apart from other British fare.

They have toured and performed with The Catherine Wheel, and despite stirring up comparisons to The Smiths and Suede, have failed to elicit a great deal of hype.

They have released the following albums since their inception in 1992:

Further (1997)
Weather Underground (1999)
Geneva was the city where John Calvin first implemented his protestant reforms and was the template for all Calvinist reformers. It had been subject to the Bishop of Geneva but by 15th century the Dukes of Savoy had secured a hold over the Bishopric. As a whole it was part of the Swiss Confederation which was by name part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Geneva was a reformed city before Calvin arrived and so he was introducing the second wave of reform. This meant he was able to instigate more wide ranging social reforms as he did not have to gain original acceptance of a completely new faith as Luther had to do in Germany.

Geneva's early reformation:

1511 - The Bishop/Duke sought to reduce the liberties of Geneva.

1525-26 - Geneva obtained friendship and support from the cantons of Berne and Fribourg. This put pressure on the Bishop/Duke alliance.

1527 - The Bishop fled the city.

1532 - In January the first protestant preaching is performed in Geneva under the sponsorship of the canton of Berne.

1533 - May-July there are riots. The bishop loses political control due to both religious and political upheaval.

1534 - The Bishopric of Geneva is declared vacant. In March reformers are granted use of city churches.

1536 - Savoy withdraws its involvement from Geneva. By this date Geneva had effectively won its freedom. The city council forbade priests from celebrating the mass and Calvin and Farel were both now involved in introducing the second wave of Protestantism to Geneva.

Geneva was then controlled by four syndics who were elected every year by a general assembly of males in Geneva. Executive power rested with the small council know as 'Messiers de Geneve'.

  • It consisted of 24 men led by the four syndics
  • Included a treasurer and two secretaries
  • Met three times each week
  • Conducted foreign affairs
  • Ran finances and the mint
  • Supervised city regulations
  • Supervised death sentences
  • Dispensed Justice in civil and criminal cases
There were two legislative bodies emanating from the small council. The Council of 200 met once a month. It passed laws, granted pardons and elected the 25 members of the small council. The General Council consisted of all male citizens in Geneva. They met twice a year. In November they fixed wine prices and elected judges. In January they elected the four syndics.

Geneva had a large fluctuating refugee population. These were mostly religious refugees fleeing from France and Italy. This meant that there was much support for new religious ideas. However many Genevans resented the power of the large refugee contingent and this is partly what led to Calvin's expulsion in 1538.

Ge*ne"va (?), n.

The chief city of Switzerland.

Geneva Bible, a translation of the Bible into English, made and published by English refugees in Geneva (Geneva, 1560; London, 1576). It was the first English Bible printed in Roman type instead of the ancient black letter, the first which recognized the division into verses, and the first which ommited the Apocrypha. In form it was a small quarto, and soon superseded the large folio of Cranmer's translation. Called also Genevan Bible. -- Geneva convention Mil., an agreement made by representatives of the great continental powers at Geneva and signed in 1864, establishing new and more humane regulation regarding the treatment of the sick and wounded and the status of those who minister to them in war. Ambulances and military hospitals are made neutral, and this condition affects physicians, chaplains, nurses, and the ambulance corps. Great Britain signed the convention in 1865. -- Geneva cross Mil., a red Greek cross on a white ground; -- the flag and badge adopted in the Geneva convention.

 

© Webster 1913.


Ge*ne"va (?), n. [F. genievre juniper, juniper berry, gin, OF. geneivre juniper, fr. L. juniperus the juniper tree: cf. D. jenever, fr. F. genievre. See Juniper, and cf. Gin a liquor.]

A strongly alcoholic liquor, flavores with juniper berries; -- made in Holland; Holland gin; Hollands.

 

© Webster 1913.

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