Strolling around in a cemetery might be not that interesting an activity not that interesting, but this is not the case when talking about Plainpalais cemetery, or also known as le cimetière des rois (after the street it’s on, Rue des Rois).

Easy to find, but at the same time kind of unexpected to be there, between residential buildings, shops and restaurants, this cemetery provides rest to many important figures and personalities who marked the cultural and political history of Geneva.

In Plainpalais cemetery, you can find the graves of the reformer Jean Calvin, of Dostoyevsky’s daughter, of Argentinian writer Jean Louis Borges, just to mention a few.

The peace of this place is quite incredible, considering it is just in the middle of the city. It is a great spot to have a walk, under the shade of the old trees, while getting to know more about Geneva’s history.

During the beautiful season or even on sunny winter days, many of Geneva’s citizens go there for their work lunch break, to find an oasis of peace and calm. Once there, you may also encounter some other inhabitants of the cemetery, some nice and chubby stray cats that have their shelters inside the cemetery park: the majority are black, but look for the red one, it is definitely the guardian of this enchanted cemetery!