Geneva’s Jet d’Eau

[Photo Credit: Suicasmo, Jet d'eau de Genève, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en]

From their hotel, Julia and her three traveling companions could see the Jet d’Eau on the opposite bank of Lake Geneva. This enormous fountain was built in 1886 for an industrial purpose: to release excess water from a hydroelectric plant. Within a few years, however, it had become a popular tourist attraction. In 1891 the Jet d’Eau was moved to its present location, and its water height was increased from 100 feet to nearly 300 feet. When Julia and her friends viewed it in July of 1896, the towering plume of water was one of Geneva’s newest sights.