I’ve come to believe that Geneva’s Jet d’eau (“water jet”) is one of the most underrated man made landmarks on the face of the earth. And interestingly, the jet d’eau is something of an “accidental’ landmark. The idea was first conceived way back in in 1886 when a separate outlet was created to control excess water pressure at a nearby hydraulic plant. That precursor to the current Jet d’eau released a stream of water a mere 30 meters into the air, but everyone still thought it was the coolest thing ever, so five years later in 1891, the Geneva city council came up with the bright idea that they could relocate the fountain out into the Geneva Harbor and attract tourists to come and see it. Continue reading →