Everything about Ferney totally explained
Ferney-Voltaire is a
commune in the
department of
Ain in eastern
France. It lies between the
Jura mountains and the
Swiss border. It forms part of the metropolitan areas of
Geneva.
History
Ferney was first noted in 14th-century
Burgundian registers as "Fernex." Four centuries later, however,
Voltaire changed the "
x" to a "
y" due to the excessive number of towns in the region with names ending in "
x," such as
Maconnex,
Saconnex,
Gex,
Versonnex,
Ornex.
During Voltaire's reign over Ferney in the second part of the 18th century, the town saw rapid expansion. Today Ferney is a peaceful village with Saturday markets and a close community. Ferney is slowly growing with the building of new apartments and houses in the area. It is also home to the
Lycée International. Voltaire still presides over Ferney with his life-like statue near
La Grande Rue. It is a peaceful place to live in or visit.
Voltaire
From 1759 to 1778 Ferney was home to French
writer and
philosopher Voltaire. His influence on the town was profound. He built the local church and founded cottage industries that produced some of the finest
potters and
watchmakers of modern France. After the
French Revolution, the town was renamed "Ferney-Voltaire" in his honor.
In 1759, after having lived in
Geneva less than two years, Voltaire had purchased the estate of Ferney in France, near the Swiss border. A prime reason for his leaving Geneva was that
theatre was forbidden in that
Calvinist city, so he'd decided to become the enlightened "patriarch" of the little village of Ferney, setting up potteries, a watchmaking industry and, of course, theaters, attracting rich people from Geneva to watch his
plays.
During Voltaire's residence, the population of Ferney increased to more than 1,000. Voltaire lived there for the last 20 years of his life before making a triumphal return to
Paris, where he died in 1778.
Sights
Ferney's main attraction is Voltaire's house (
château), built 1758-66, now owned and administered by the
Centre des Monuments Nationaux (an arm of the French Ministry of Culture). As of July 2007, it was closed for restoration, with no date for its reopening to visitors.
The
château includes the main building, with a reconstruction of Voltaire's room (moved from its original location by later private owners), a garden with a fine view of the
Alps, and a church dedicated, contrary to custom, directly to
God. In the church's inscription, "
Deo erexit VOLTAIRE" ("Erected to God by VOLTAIRE"), Voltaire's name is written in the largest characters.
A few dozen meters from the
château is another impressive house, built in 1900 by
Monsieur Lambert (the sculptor of the statue of Voltaire; his family owned the
château before it was purchased by the French government). The house, now privately owned, had been used to store provisions and wine for the
château, and to accommodate the household staff.
The village features 18th-century houses and artisans' workshops; a life-size statue of Voltaire; a smaller bust of him, surmounting a fountain; many restaurants, French and foreign; and proximity to the nearby cosmopolitan city of
Geneva,
Switzerland.
Every Saturday, a market is held in the main street of Ferney.
Each year at the beginning of summer, Voltaire's birthday is celebrated in village festivities at which his works are performed in the streets by amateur and professional actors.
The old road at the centre of the village is very beautiful, and a remnant of the time when Voltaire resided at the
château in Ferney-Voltaire.
The pedestal of the Voltaire statue, erected in 1890, dedicates that memorial to the town's "benefactor," noting that he built over a hundred houses for the inhabitants, as well as a school and church, gave the town interest-free loans, and fed its inhabitants in time of need.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ferney'.
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