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aware of the story attached to it. It may be that
this tree is not just a silent witness of events
at the Palais des Nations, but is also a living
monument to peace. The story of this tree goes
th
well beyond 75 birthday of the United Nations,
and even well beyond the century of the League
of Nations, as it is almost 190 years old.

This Tree was present at the construction of
the Ariana Museum by Gustav Revilliod, the
construction of the Palais des Nations for the
League of Nations, and for the League itself
during its last years of existence during WWII.
It was standing during the inauguration of the
Evelina Rioukhina, competition-winning photo organization was created 75 years ago, with
Celestial Sphere in 1939, the rotation of this
Sphere and its sudden stop on the outbreak
of war, and many other events since our
th
the European UN Headquarters at the Palais.

In a way, the tree is a symbolic custodian of all
the Palais des Nations secrets, of its Sphere, and
even of its peacocks that are also a Palais heritage,
as specified in the will of Gustav Revilliod.
Furthermore, as a majestic and beautiful tree,
it adds to the atmosphere of peace in the Palais
grounds with its strength and solidity, and also to
its internationalism as it originated in Lebanon
The custodian of the (full story below this article).

secrets of the palais I have my own personal story with this tree,

The Unknown Living Monument of Peace as during the pandemic I was often almost
alone at the huge Palais and Ariana Park,
in Geneva and during breaks I would pay a visit to the
beautiful Celestial Sphere, passing by this tree.
By Evelina Rioukhina and Oleksandr Svirchevsky and It was a strange time, and I realised that only
Ryan Kennedy three of us were present by the tree: myself, a
peacock and the Sphere. This visit became a
daily ritual, the peacock and I circling the tree
We continue our theme started in No. 1 of like a little dance, then the peacock taking its
Diva 2020: ‘Peace Monuments in Geneva’- place on the bench as if leaving a space for me
known, forgotten, or at risk of being lost. In to sit together under the tree. A photograph
this article we explain our theory about the of this striking image has been voted the best
best-known tree at the Palais des Nations, and image for the UNECE 2021 calendar.
perhaps discover its secret. If we are correct,
then this tree is a living peace monument The situation, with the tree, the peacock and
dating back two centuries, and should be me, seemed so significant it was as if the tree
added to the Register of Peace Monuments of was trying to tell me something. What caught
Geneva. my eye was the nameplate on its trunk, which
I had seen before but which had never really
We have all passed the impressive cedar tree in registered with me. The date, in particular,
Ariana Park at least once, but not everyone is was very striking.

w w w. d i va i n t e r n at i o n a l . c h