Chèvres

Origin of the name Chèvres

No dated first mention of the name is known, and its origin has not yet been explained.

Founding of Chèvres

Chèvres is a hamlet in the municipality of Bernex, on the Rhône downstream from Genève. An old mill stood there until 1894. The place owes its fame to the hydroelectric plant that the City of Genève had built there from 1893 to 1896, following a report by Théodore Turrettini on the concession request: the dam, founded in the molasse, had six 10 m sluice gates, and the 137 m long turbine hall was designed for fifteen units. The electrical equipment was designed by René Thury, chief engineer of the Compagnie de l'Industrie électrique, and the turbines were supplied by Escher-Wyss of Zurich. With 18'000 horsepower, the plant was then the most powerful in Switzerland. It was replaced in 1943 by the Verbois plant, whose reservoir flooded the site.^[1][2]

History of Chèvres

1892. In April, Théodore Turrettini presents the Municipal Council with a report on the City of Genève's concession request for a plant on the Rhône at Chèvres.^[2]

1893. On 17 January, the Municipal Council of Genève votes to build the plant, with an initial credit of 3'000'000 francs.^[2]

1894. The dam is completed in January. The old Chèvres mill is demolished on 10 January, and more than 1'200 people visit the site, opened to the public on 28 January.^[2]

1895. On 31 December, the current generated at Chèvres reaches the city.^[2]

1896. On 27 April, the plant is inaugurated together with the Coulouvrenière bridge, three days before the opening of the National Exhibition. That same evening, 215 arc lamps replace 456 gas lamps in the streets of Genève.^[2]

1899. The plant has fifteen generators of three different types.^[2]

1943. The Verbois plant replaces the Chèvres plant. Its reservoir floods the site, and the old plant, in service for 47 years, is demolished.^[1][2]

Historic sites in Chèvres

The Rhône at Chèvres. Site of the former hydroelectric plant, now under the waters of the Verbois dam reservoir.^[2]

Sources

1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Bernex » (Jacques Barrelet), version du 15.01.2026
2. René Sauvin (d'après des documents de Pierre Jaccard), « Genève, Le Rhône électrique : les centrales hydro-électriques sur le Rhône genevois », IN.KU no 21, avril 1997
3. geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Chèvres, Bernex, coordonnées)

This page was last updated on 21.10.2026

Other villages near Chèvres

• Le Lignon (GE)
• Aïre (GE)
• Vernier (GE)
• Poussy (GE)
• Vuillonnex (GE)