Repère Pierre du Niton

The pierres du Niton in the port of Geneva

The Repère Pierre du Niton , or RPN for short , is the reference point ("repère") for altitude measurements in Switzerland and is attached to a rock in the port of Geneva . The Pierres du Niton ( French for “Rock of Niton”) are two erratic blocks that protrude from Lake Geneva opposite the Gustave Ador Quai . They were brought about by the Rhone Glacier during the last Ice Age . The Repère Pierre du Niton is on the larger block further from the shore. The two boulders are about 70 meters apart. Pierre Dyolin is around 30 meters from the shore, and Pierre du Niton 70 meters.

The word Niton is derived from the ancient water god Neptune , who was also worshiped by the Gauls on Lake Geneva, as shown by inscriptions from Geneva and Lausanne . Legends of the water spirit Nuiton or Neton were also circulating on Lake Geneva until modern times .

Guillaume-Henri Dufour used this rock as a height starting point ( fundamental point ) when developing the Dufour maps of 1845 and 1864 on a scale of 1: 100,000. At that time, its height was set at 376.86 m above the Marseille gauge ("old horizon"). To this day, this stone is the reference point for altitude measurements in Switzerland. However, its height in 1902 was 373.6 m above sea level. M. redefined by controlling the sea level over four sea connections ( Rhine , Inn / Danube , Ticino / Po , Rhone ). For this reason, heights in maps of Switzerland up to and including the Siegfried map are 3.26 m higher than today's official values.

Web links

Commons : Pierres du Niton - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Explanations on the Swisstopo site

Individual evidence

^ Repertoire des immeubles et objets classés. Service des monuments et sites . In: Armand Brulhart, Erica Deuber-Pauli (ed.): Ville et canton de Genève . Éditions Georg , 1985, ISBN 2-8257-0126-2 .

46.205569 6.154363 373.6Coordinates: 46 ° 12 '20.05 " N , 6 ° 9' 15.71" E ; CH1903: 500.88 thousand / one hundred seventeen thousand nine hundred thirty-seven

[1] Repertoire des immeubles et objets classés. Service des monuments et sites . In: Armand Brulhart, Erica Deuber-Pauli (ed.): Ville et canton de Genève . Éditions Georg , 1985, ISBN 2-8257-0126-2 .