Island tower

The Tower of the Island

The Geneva audio-guided tour presents you with the Tower of the Island, the only vestige of the fortified castle that once defended the city, in the heart of the island on the Rhone.

The last witness of the castle of the Island

You are on the island of Geneva, an islet without a real name that everyone simply calls thus. Before you stands the Tower of the Island, the only vestige of the fortified castle built in the thirteenth century to ensure the defence of the city. The edifice controlled the circulation between the two banks of the Rhone and between Saint-Gervais and Geneva; it was also the residence of the episcopal viscounts. Thanks to its strategic position by the water, the island contributed to making Geneva one of the main commercial routes of Europe between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Of the castle remains today only the tower, raised and restored at the end of the nineteenth century, which is part of the heritage of the city and stands proudly in the heart of the island, adorned with a large clock.

What there is to see

The Tower of the Island is the only vestige of a medieval fortified castle, standing in the heart of the island on the Rhone and topped with a large clock. It recalls the strategic and commercial role of Geneva in the Middle Ages. It is an emblematic monument of the heritage of the city, along the water.

Practical information

The Tower of the Island is on the island, in the middle of the Rhone, in Geneva. It can be contemplated freely from the quays and the island, at all hours, along the walk.

What was the Tower of the Island originally?

The last vestige of a thirteenth-century fortified castle, which defended the city and controlled the passage between the two banks of the Rhone.

Why was the island strategic?

Its position by the water allowed Geneva to become one of the great commercial routes of Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.