Old Town: Maison Tavel and Town Hall

Maison Tavel is the oldest surviving private house in Geneva and a fine example of medieval urban architecture; since 1986 it has served as a museum of the old city spread across six floors. In the attic is the Magnin relief, a large-scale model depicting Geneva before the demolition of its fortifications in 1850. A few steps away stands the 15th-century Town Hall, seat of Genevan government, featuring a monumental ramp. Within its walls, the first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864, founding the International Red Cross. In the Alabama Room in 1872, an international arbitration tribunal resolved a dispute between the United States and Great Britain.