La Belotte

Restaurant, Terrace, Pier

Etymologically, the name Belotte could come from Old French and Savoyard dialect, like bellet, bellot, belotte, which mean sheep, lamb, ewe lamb. Sheep were once permanently left to graze on the grass on an empty plot of land in La Belotte, which is why this name was given to it.

Around 1760, it was difficult to live in La Belotte, a place where it was unwise to spend the night. You should know that at that time, salt was a smuggled item which cost six times less in Switzerland than in France. The smugglers crossed the lake to Coppet, which is in the land of Berne, loaded the “camelotte » and come to unload her at La Belotte.

If there is an immemorial tradition in Cologny, or more precisely in La Belotte, it is that of fishing, because we can assume that it has never been interrupted since the time of the Lacustres.

The building of the La Belotte restaurant-creamery, so named at the time, dates from the second half of the 19th century. It was at the same time that the lakeside road linking Geneva to Thonon was built. And it was only at the beginning of the last century that La Belotte adopted the appearance we know today.