Living in Servette - Nations: a green and active neighbourhood

Right on the back of Geneva main train station, the Servette area has always been a popular neighbourhood where people from all social and geographic origins are mingling. Originally a rural zone, it has transformed first with small houses, then medium-sized buildings and eventually large housing projects in the 1960s to 1970s.

There are still beautiful parks and gardens where locals like to go for a picnic in the shade, for sports or live, open-air music acts. You can find many shops, schools and public transportation options, all of them making the area a great place to live.

North of the Tremblay-Pestalozzi-Grand Pré line, you get into International Geneva. There you’ll meet a cosmopolitan crowd of tourists and international organization workers from every corner of the world. The district lies around the large Esplanade des Nations and the UNO European headquarters. This part of the Servette-Nations neighbourhood features modern buildings and extensive parks like the Ariana and the Jardin Botanique.

The hallmark of International Geneva, the Palace of Nations is actually a groups of large, neoclassical-style buildings. It was originally designed to serve as headquarters for the Society of Nations after it was founded in Geneva in 1929. After World War II, the complex was handed over to the newly born UN that decided to use it as European headquarters. The story of the palace in itself is one of collaboration and negotiation: since the jury couldn’t agree on a winner amongst the 377 projects of the architecture contest, they asked four architects from Switzerland, France, Italy and Hungary for a common design !

This large garden was once a part of the Varembé domain, a 90-acre estate that was granted to the city of Geneva by patron and collector Gustave Revilliod. The park is home to the Ariana museum. But it’s especially famous for housing the Palace of Nations and several artistic landmarks.