Fountains of Geneva. Geneva Fountain, Switzerland: description, photo, where it is on the map, how to get to the Fountain

Located in the heart of Geneva harbor, the Geneva Fountain (Jet d'Eau) is a recognizable emblem of the city throughout the world and the main attraction of the Swiss capital. The huge water fountain is an integral part of the landscape and occupies a special place in the heart of Geneva. Beautiful and stunning at any time of the day or year, at night, thanks to modern sophisticated lighting, it appears in all its splendor. Millions of tiny bubbles of water and air contrast effectively with the darkness and romantic city at night.

There is a lot in Geneva interesting places and attractions, but it’s almost impossible to visit the city and not see the fountain. Select and book a hotel in foreign countries, for example in Switzerland, you can visit www.planetofhotels.com. There you can also find detailed photographs, descriptions, a map and see prices. Switzerland is not the best cheap country, price single room in Geneva hotels it can be more than $400. On average - 120 dollars. The popular airport hotel in Geneva usually costs $200-350 per night, but if you look in advance, you can book a room for $124.

The Geneva Fountain was not always a symbol; it served local residents in a very practical way for a long time. With its help, pressure was regulated and water system in the city at the end of the 19th century. A gigantic hydraulic structure for those times was built in 1886. In the evening, when the artisans stopped their machines, there was excess pressure. So the idea arose to create an additional flow through a safety valve, which regulates the pressure, releasing all the water pressure to the sky. The first stream of water was 30 meters high. In July 1891, the city's Administrative Council decided to make a fountain tourist place and moved it to the very center of the harbor. A new stream of water reached more than 90 meters. Until 1951, the fountain was connected to the network drinking water. Currently, self-contained, partially submerged pumps use lake water, allowing it to operate throughout the year.

Specifications Geneva fountain:

  • Average height jets: 140 meters
  • Water outlet speed: 200 km/h
  • Flow: 500 liters/sec
  • Two pumping units with a total power of 1000 kW and 2400V.
  • Flow rate of each group: 250 l/s
  • Lighting power: 9000 W

Postcard with a view of the main fountain of Switzerland.

Geneva at night is beautiful!

Without exaggeration, Jet d'Eau is one of the largest fountains in the world.

Fountain and couple on the shore.

Five hundred liters (132 gallons) of water per second rises to a height of about 140 meters!

Since 2003, the Geneva Fountain has been operating 24 hours a day throughout the year. It is turned off only in very strong winds and frosts.

This Geneva landmark began operating in 1886 - next to the current location of the fountain.

Once upon a time he was just a side effect technical progress: under high pressure, water turned mills and machine engines in factories, and on weekends, when the machines stopped, it was necessary to relieve the pressure using a fountain, releasing water back into the lake. Although at that time the stream rose only 30 meters into the air, the residents of Geneva really liked this spectacle, and many citizens and guests of the city walked near the fountain in the evenings.

In 1896 it was moved to the city, and in 1951 to the lake to directly use water from the reservoir.

Nowadays the fountain operates daily, turning off only in cold weather and strong wind. Perhaps it can be called a symbol of the city.

Fountain of Jeu D'eau

One of the many attractions of Geneva is the beautiful Jet d’Eau fountain, which is 140 meters high. It was first installed in June 1886, slightly below its current location. In early 1891, in honor of the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, the Jet d'Eau fountain was moved to the city center for public viewing. At that time maximum height attractions was 90 meters. In 1951, a pumping station was installed under the fountain to use water directly from the lake itself, rather than from the water supply, as was previously the case. Since 2003, the Jet d’Eau fountain has been operating daily; it is turned off only in cold weather and strong winds.

The Geneva fountain is one of the largest in the world, its flow rate is 500 liters per second. At night, the Jet d'Eau is illuminated with an LED installation, which creates a real enchanting show. You can often meet local youth and couples at the fountain; it often acts as a city landmark.

The Geneva fountain, Je Deau, is unique, beautiful, majestic and is rightfully the hallmark of Geneva. Every tourist who comes to Geneva tries to see this miracle and, if possible, get wet under its spray. But not everyone succeeds, because... the fountain only works in summer time, more precisely, at ambient temperatures above -2 degrees Celsius. In winter it is turned off, because huge drops, falling down, freeze and turn into ice. And if such a “drop,” falling from a height of more than 140 meters, hits a curious tourist on the head, the consequences will be very dire.

In 2011, the Geneva Fountain (Jet d'Eau) turned 120 years old. The history of the formation of the Geneva Fountain is interesting. In 1886, at the very place where the Rhone River flows from the lake, a powerful pumping station was built, which took water from the lake and supplied it to the hydraulic factory. At this factory, water, with the help of a powerful jet, rotated various machines and mills. On weekends, the water jet was not used and it was necessary to release the water somewhere, naturally, back to. Lake Geneva . This is how the first Geneva fountain was born. Its height at that time was still only 30 meters. Over time, the townspeople liked the fountain more and more. This place has become favorite place recreation for Genevans, and subsequently, the first attraction of Geneva.
In 1891, local authorities decided to improve the fountain. It was moved, electric lighting was installed and the power of the jet was increased, as a result of which the height of the Geneva Fountain was already 90 meters. The official birthday of the Geneva Fountain is August 2.

The technical characteristics of the Geneva Fountain are as follows:
The average height of the jet is 140 meters.
The speed of the ejected jet is 200 km/h.
Productivity - 500 liters per second.
The mass of water in the stream is 7 tons, and one drop lingers in flight for 16 seconds from the moment of release. All this beauty is provided by 2 powerful water pumps. It is also noteworthy that the stream of the Geneva Fountain is always white. This is achieved using a built-in air atomizer.
If you are lucky enough to visit Geneva, be sure to take a boat ride on Lake Geneva. It floats past the fountain at a fairly close distance and you can take a closer look at this miracle.
Je Do has its own character, which changes depending on the weather and wind direction. In calm, windless weather, the jet of the Geneva Fountain shoots strictly vertically, but as soon as the wind blows, its spray scatters over several hundred meters. Its color changes depending on the light in the sky. In sunny weather it is bright white, at sunset it is pink, and sometimes it even shines with all the colors of the rainbow. The spectacle is truly amazing! And no photo can convey all this beauty and grandeur. I suggest you watch a short video. Agree, this is a grandiose spectacle.

One of the largest fountains in the world; " business card“not only, but throughout. In dialect local residents, this is Jeu d'Eau, i.e. "Water jet". The height of the fountain is 140 m, and the flow rate is 500 l/sec. This tourist site is located in the very center of Geneva and is therefore always crowded around it. It is included in the version of our site.

The fountain is open daily from morning to evening. Its height is comparable to the size of a 46-story building. In addition to the fact that it strikes skyward with one powerful string, it can take on a variety of shapes and be illuminated in all the colors of the rainbow. Visiting the Geneva Fountain is completely free. It is best to observe him from nearby observation platforms. You can get there by bus to the Rive stop, or by ferry to Genève-Jardin-Anglais.

The history of this fountain began more than 125 years ago. It was installed as an additional structure to the hydraulic system and reached only 30 m. At that time it was not yet considered a city landmark. In the middle of the 20th century it was replaced by the Jeu d'Eau with a powerful stream that takes resources from rather than from the city water supply. When darkness falls, the fountain is illuminated by multi-colored spotlights, making it look incredibly beautiful.

Photo attraction: Geneva Fountain

The giant jet of water has been Geneva's most significant landmark since 1981. This narrow column of water, shooting to a staggering height of 140 meters, is one of the most recognizable places in the city.

The fountain has quite impressive characteristics: every second, a stream of water with a diameter of 4 inches (10.16 cm) rushes to the surface at a speed of 200 km/h. At any moment there is about 7,000 liters of water in the air.

Named "Jet d'Eau", which means "stream of water" in French, the fountain is located on Lake Geneva where it flows into the Rhône River. The lake has a stone pier installed in the same year, like the famous fountain, visitors can use it to get from the shore directly to the place where the stream of water comes from.

The famous Swiss landmark was originally intended as a relief valve to relieve excess pressure that was being put on the city's hydraulic power grid. A hydraulic power network uses pressurized water to transfer mechanical energy from a large central pumping station to workshops and factories throughout the city through a network of pipes, just as a power system transfers energy from a generator station to end users.

The idea of ​​a hydraulic power supply network was first proposed by the English inventor Joseph Bramah in the early 1800s, and the first such low-pressure systems began to appear in England in the 1840s, but the real breakthrough came in 1850 with the introduction of the hydraulic accumulator, which allowed the use of much higher pressures. TO end of the 19th century centuries, many cities around the world have had hydraulic power grids. These included London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Antwerp, Melbourne, Sydney, Buenos Aires and Geneva.

The Geneva hydraulic power supply network was created in 1879 by installing a 300 HP steam engine that pumped water from Lake Geneva both for drinking and for supplying pressurized water. Increased demand prompted the city to install a new pumping station in 1886, which used water from the Rhone River. Water pressure was used to drive machines in more than a hundred workshops and factories. At the end of each workday, as factories turned off machines at the same time, excess pressure built up in the system, so a relief valve was needed to relieve it. This safety valve became the first fountain in Geneva, creating a column of water 30 meters high.

Soon the tall fountain became a city landmark. Seeing how popular it had become, in 1891 the city decided to move it to its current location for the sole purpose of attracting more tourists. When the jet began to flow with greater power, the height of the fountain rose by 90 meters. In 1951, the power of the flow once increased so much that the jet rose to its current height - 140 meters - becoming the sixth tallest fountain in the world.

Today the fountain operates around the clock throughout the year, and in the evenings it is illuminated with colorful lights.


The first Jeu d'Eau fountain in Geneva, approximately 1886.










King Fahd Fountain or Jeddah Fountain in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia(260 meters)


World Cup fountain in Seoul, South Korea, built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup (202 meters)


Gateway Geyser in East St. Louis, Illinois, USA (192 meters)


Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA (171 meters)


Fountain in the port of Karachi on Clifton Beach (152 meters)