Lausanne lies on the slopes above Lake Geneva, set in a landscape of terraced
vineyards, with the blue waters of the lake at its feet.
 A broad spectrum of facilities for visitors and an exceptionally rich
cultural life make it a friendly and attractive destination, an intriguing blend
of tradition and modernity. The International Olympic Committee as well as some
30 national and international associations have their headquarters here, and the
city regularly stages world-class sporting events.
Other notable features of the city include its lively and dynamic student
population, a beautiful geographical setting that makes for an exceptionally
high quality of life, legendary hospitality, and higher educational
establishments with an international reputation. Cultural highlights are the
Béjart Ballet Lausanne, as well as many museums and galleries. The buzzing city
centre sees all manner of events staged for a highly diverse audience, top-class
shopping, a very busy nightlife, and some of the best restaurants in Europe.
Art, architecture, design.
Lausanne’s broad range of museums includes some highly distinctive
collections. The Musée de l’Elysée, for example, contains more than 100,000
original images by the world’s most famous photographers. A world apart is a
collection, bequeathed to the city by the artist Jean Dubuffet, of works of art
by people on the fringes of society, including prison inmates and artists with
mental disabilities.
The Collection de l’Art Brut, incredibly rich in both colour and form, is on
display in the Château de Beaulieu. The Fondation de l’Hermitage, which lies in
a magnificent park, organizes highly regarded exhibitions of painting and
sculpture, with an emphasis on French Impressionism (1850—1920). Mudac (Musée de
design et d’arts appliqués contemporains), meanwhile, stages exhibitions of
works ranging from glass to textiles and graphic art. In the past two years
Lausanne has undertaken extensive urban redevelopment projects, in particular in
the Flon district, where a large complex of warehouses has been transformed into
a lively modern quarter with terraces, bars, night clubs and cinemas.
The museums housed in the neo-Renaissance building of the Palais de Rumine
cover various fields from fine arts to archaeology and natural history, with
collections of artworks and objects from all over the world. The history of the
city is closely bound to that of its glorious Gothic cathedral, built in the
13th century. Its elaborately carved sculptures, flying buttresses, windows and
pinnacles give its exterior an exuberance that contrasts dramatically with the
Protestant austerity of the interior. |
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