Saint-Antoine archaeological site finally opens Geneva’s history to the public

Beneath Geneva’s Saint-Antoine promenade lies a cemetery with more than 300 graves, used from the third to the 13th century. The site, now known as SaSA, will open to the public at a celebration on Saturday, Sept. 5.

The first discoveries came in 2012, when old trees were removed from the esplanade. Earlier research had also pointed to what lay below. The remains survived in part because layers of fill had protected the Saint-Laurent mound, an old bastion built in 1537 after the adoption of the Protestant Reformation and the political independence it helped defend.

The mound is now clearly visible, as is the 1560 bastion. Parts of that later structure could already be seen in the neighboring parking area. The site’s most striking feature is the cemetery, but some remains date back to the first century.

Three concrete blocks on the esplanade mark the three historical sequences revealed underground. Atelier_Traces of Geneva and Estar arquitectos of Spain designed the winning project. Their skylight-like windows offer limited views from above, but the full force of the site emerges only after visitors descend. The experience, the account suggests, feels like entering a cemetery whose dead have all temporarily left.