The Olympic Museum
Museum of the Olympic Games above Lake Geneva, set in a terraced sculpture park at Ouchy.
The Olympic Museum was opened in June 1993 by the International Olympic Committee, whose headquarters have been in Lausanne since 1915. The Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez worked with the Lausanne architect Jean-Pierre Cahen on a marble-clad building that steps down the slope at Ouchy towards Lake Geneva. Visitors approach through a terraced park planted with sculpture, passing a running track, a ceremonial flame and colonnades inscribed with the host cities of the modern Games.
Three floors of galleries trace the ancient Games at Olympia, the revival of the modern Olympics under Pierre de Coubertin, and the staging of the summer and winter editions. The collection includes torches from every relay since 1936, competition equipment, medals and clothing worn by athletes, shown alongside extensive film and broadcast material. The museum was closed for refurbishment in 2012 and 2013, reopening with enlarged display space, a study centre and a restaurant terrace overlooking the lake.
Highlights
- Terraced sculpture park descending to the shore of Lake Geneva
- Complete series of Olympic torches from 1936 onwards
- Galleries on ancient Olympia and the modern revival of the Games
- Olympic Studies Centre and archive of the International Olympic Committee
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