Geneva was a settlement even in Celtic times. It was an important transshipment point under the Romans, who named it Genava.

The Germanic Burgundians, who conquered the area in the 5th century, made it their capital for a time.

The city was the seat of a bishop from around 400 until the Reformation, when the bishop was driven out and the city became one of the major Protestant centres in Europe under Jean Calvin. The influx of refugees it attracted contributed to its economic and cultural upsurge.

In 1602 the city defeated the Duke of Savoy and forced him to abandon his territorial claims against it. Geneva then remained a small city state until it was briefly absorbed into France in 1798, before becoming a Swiss canton in 1815.


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Part or or all of this text stems from the original article at: http://www.swissworld.org