The Olympic Museum, Le Musée Olympique, Lausanne, Switzerland Just before the start of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeong-Chang, I thought it would be fun to visit the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. I’d seen that they had various Korean bits and pieces which I thought could be a good reason for visiting, besides which I’m a fan of the Olympics…
Roman Museum of Lausanne-Vidy, Musée romain de Lausanne-Vidy, Lausanne-Vidy, Switzerland I love going to Roman museums – as a Roman history buff, I’m always really excited to see what interesting new objects have been unearthed in different parts of their Empire. Having already seen some pretty fine Roman objects in the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History, I was looking forward to…
Cantonal Museum of Zoology, Musée cantonal de zoologie, Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland I think it’s only fair to state at the outset that I don’t really like looking at stuffed animals. Or bits that have been pickled in jars. Or bones. It just makes me feel quite nauseous. But I know that lots of people find it interesting, and some people,…
Cantonal Museum of Money, Musée monétaire cantonal, Lausanne, Switzerland Now I know that looking at defunct coins that have no current purchasing power is not interesting to everyone, but I am a fan. The amount you can learn from coinage is amazing, quite apart from the fact that many coins from the Greek world are extremely beautiful. The Cantonal Museum of…
Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland In the centre of Lausanne, off the busy shopping streets, is an impressive turn-of-the-20th century building that looks like it might house some sort of local government offices. While it does serve a municipal purpose, it is in fact a sort of museum complex, housing cantonal collections of varying interest but considerable scope. The building…
Cathedral of Notre Dame, Lausanne, Switzerland From the outside, the Cathedral of Lausanne has a tidy, quiet, trying-not-to-look-majestic-but-oh!-I’ve-failed air about it. It is magnificently positioned, on a hill with views of the city, Lake Geneva and the surrounding landscape, which on a clear day makes for a educational panorama. The cathedral itself is the largest Gothic building in Switzerland. Building…
Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History, Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire (MCAH), Lausanne, Switzerland The centrally located Palais de Rumine, a great big building on the Place de la Riponne, is home to five local museums. On the first floor is the little Cantonal Archaeology & History Museum. It looks at the archaeology of the Lake Geneva region from 15,000 BC onwards,…