Freddie Mercury's places of power. Freddie Mercury's favorite places in Montreux Where is the monument to Freddie Mercury

Arriving in Montreux, we immediately went to look for the Freddie Mercury monument.

The first meeting was special. Before our eyes, a woman placed a bouquet of roses at his foot, and then hugged Freddie by the leg, leaned her cheek and kissed him. Like a loved one. Someone very dear.
Apparently, noticing the undisguised emotion on my face, she handed me her camera. I looked through the lens at both of them, at the woman and at Freddie.... and it was not at all about the monument. Do you understand, right?

I hope those pictures turned out well :)
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The Freddie Mercury Memorial in Montreux is located on the Place du Marché, on the luxurious promenade of Lake Geneva. These are special places for any Queen fan.
Freddie settled in Montreux for 13 years, until his last days.
Queen musicians first came here in In 1978, to record Queen's 7th album "Jazz", already in 1979 they acquired the Mountain Studios recording studio here. And Freddie Mercury, in love with the local beauty, buys an apartment and a small chalet on the Montreux Riviera overlooking the lake.

They say he was initially skeptical about this serene resort town. But a little later, Mercury’s phrase became popular: “If you want peace of soul, come to Montreux” (“If you want to find peace of mind, come to Montreux”).

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Mountain Studios located in the Montreux casino building/ Casino de Montreux (Rue du theater, 9) and occupied two floors.

Shall we go for a light? :)
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The studio was closed for a long time. A year ago, in December 2013, it reopened as a small museum. In its original place.
Today anyone can visit Mountain Studios. Feel free to visit the Montreux Casinoand turn left.
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Admission to the Queen Studio Museum is free. That is, free, without any preliminary registrations or group applications.
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What was especially surprising is that there is no search at the entrance to the casino, nor is there a need to hand over cameras to the storage room (as, for example, in the Monte Carlo casino).
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This recording studio belonged to Queen from 1979 until the late nineties.
Songs from the albums "Hot Space" (1982), "A Kind of Magic" (1986), "The Miracle" (1989), "Innuendo" (1990) were recorded here.
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In the legendary Mountain Studios Freddie Mercury recorded such great hits as"Under Pressure" with David Bowie, "A Kind of Magic", "Who Wants To Live Forever?" and "One Vision" and many, many others.
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The atmosphere of Mountain Studio is very unusual... Do you remember what they said in childhood? “He didn’t die, he just went out to smoke.”
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Here you can also find Freddie's incredible stage costumes.
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And, of course, here in Montreux, Queen’s last album, “Made in Heaven,” was created and recorded, released after the musician’s death.
It is interesting that the chalet and the monument on the album cover are depicted side by side - but this is a montage. This "country house" of Freddie is located near Montreux, and the new owners are not very fond of tourist pilgrimages. Therefore, they say that finding this place is not so easy.
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Freddie passed away on November 24, 1991. He died in London, although he lived until his last days in Montreux, working on recordings for "Made in Heaven". And he even stayed overnight in the studio when he didn’t have the strength to return home.
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For four years after the tragic date, the Queen musicians were looking for a place in London for a monument to Freddie. But they were refused. Therefore p The first monument to the great musician was unveiled in Switzerland, on the Montreux embankment, on November 25, 1996. And only in 2003 the memorial appeared in London.
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"To the greatest artist on earth. I love you, Freddie."
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"You live in my heart"
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The last song Freddie Mercury recorded was"A Winter's Tale". A very gentle song about a winter fairytale city that became his second home. Farewell song.

Freddie's presence can still be felt in Montreux.
Especially in November. When "So quiet and calm, peaceful and blissful, there is magic in the air, a truly mesmerizing view... A breathtaking picture... when the dreams of the whole world are in the palm of your hand.... Incredible! Am I dreaming about this? I am dreaming about this ?..Ooooh, this is happiness..."
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Other posts about Switzerland.

They may remember that there was something left that was definitely worth returning there for. Yes, I had to see Freddie's lake house (or "duck" house as it is sometimes called) where Freddie found peace of mind and which is featured on the cover of Queen's fifteenth studio album "Made In Heaven", and I did it! (from this trip.)

While the Internet continues to ask questions such as "Where is Freddie Mercury's lake house in Montreux?" the answers are not that numerous. Moreover, some of them will lead you to Territ, which, of course, has something to do with Freddie, because he had an apartment on Quai de Fleurs, but has nothing to do with the mysterious house by the lake, and therefore is of no interest to us . Since I did not find any specific information on this serious issue, I decided to write a detailed guide for those people who one day decide to travel to Montreux.

So, Freddy's lake house is not located in Montreux itself. Moreover, it is located on private property, so it is not possible to get close to it. Although, I think that this fact will not stop people who want to look at the house in any case. The exact address where Freddie's house is located is Rue du Lac 165, Clarens, 1815. Clarens is a small village located in the commune of Montreux quite close to Montreux itself.

You can take bus number 201 from Montreux and get off at the St-Georges stop about 10 minutes later, but if you have time, I wouldn't recommend rushing. If you come to Montreux by train, it only takes 7 minutes to go down to Quai de la Rouvenaz and, heading towards Place du Marché, to reach the Freddie monument. Afterwards, head back in the opposite direction, enjoying this wonderful view along Lake Geneva. After about 30 minutes you will see a large yacht club on the left. We are almost there.

On Rue du Lac (it's quite a long street, so it's hard to miss), we're interested in house 163. That's it, as soon as you see it, it's the right place! Go to where the cars are parked and look down to the right. Freddie's house by the lake will be visible through the tree branches.

You can also walk along the fence along Rue du Lac and after 20-30 meters, looking behind it (you may have to jump a little) you can see Freddy’s house, but from a different angle and without interfering branches. You can see that he now looks almost exactly like he did on the Made In Heaven cover.

Of course, it would be great to go down and get closer to this amazing piece of musical history, but, unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment. According to a well-known fact, the people who now own this piece of land are not very happy to meet such spectators. In any case, you can trust me that after you see Freddy's house at least from a distance, you will feel much better.

The map shows: (A) Montreux Station, (B) Freddie Mercury Monument, (C) Freddie's Lake House, (D) Vevey Pier

Now, I would suggest that you continue your walk in the direction of Vevey. Soon you will see the lake again and enjoy this stunning view. By the way, walking along the lake, you can notice several more traditional Swiss chalets, reminiscent of Freddy's house. On the way to La Tour-de-Peilz, if you are lucky, you can visit the Swiss Games Museum (Musée suisse du jeu), located in the Château de la Tour-de-Peilz (I was not able to do this, as it was closed ). Vevey is reminiscent of Montreux, it is an equally beautiful place (and what can we say, the whole canton of Vaud looks amazing). There you can take a boat and sail to Lausanne, and then board a train and go wherever you want. On the way to Grande Place (where the pier is located), on Quai Perdonnet you can find several interesting monuments, including Charlie Chaplin and even the famous Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The journey from Vevey to Lausanne by boat will take almost an hour, but you will never regret it, as you will get the opportunity to enjoy a truly stunning view.

Previous Facebook comments

1. Lada Maslennikova I'll be there soon! :))
   • Margarita Shipilo Lada, hello! Have you already visited Montreux?
2. Margarita Shipilo Stanislav, thank you! Your tips are very helpful! I'll take them into service!
3. Elena Sharova it’s incredible to see this again..... a wonderful moment... and comprehend the life of this person

A few years ago I went to the Swiss town of Montreux. With a very clear goal - to visit the places where most of Queen's albums were created, and where the band actually lived for several years. In Montreux, at Mountain Studio, Jazz (1978), Hot Space (1982), A Kind of Magic (1986), The Miracle (1989), Innuendo (1991) and Made in Heaven (1995) were recorded. The famous album Barcelona with Montserat Caballe also comes from Montreux. So you understand - it was simply impossible not to visit there (who else wrote in Mountain Studio, the list is impressive).

All visitors first go to the Mercury sculpture, but it was the studio that interested me. In 2013, the Queen studio experience museum was opened in its premises, but this is a purely tourist story, from the present there are only some Queen artifacts and walls. All equipment was sold in the late nineties when the studio was closed. There are no signs to the former studio either; the casino parking guard showed me the way. But, apparently, I was not the only one who found this place.

The door is still the same.

The Russian man also reached Montreux.

Now in the studio, I repeat, the museum of the mercuryphoenixtrust foundation. All money collected, minus the costs of maintaining the museum, goes to fight AIDS.

And once upon a time it was like this inside.

At first, Mercury stayed at the Excelsior Hotel, and then rented an apartment not far from the studio. But I visited the hotel regularly; there are many photographs of the group on the Internet, taken on its balconies. I was unable to locate the specific balcony, but I did find the pontoon where the group posed in 1988.

Here he is.

There are flowers on that same bench.

After work I needed a snack. One of Freddie's favorite restaurants was The Brasserie Bavaria. I came there in the morning, right after it opened. The owner, an elderly woman, remembers Freddie and showed him his favorite place. It is in the very depths of the hall. From it you can see everything that happens in the restaurant and on the street, but you can’t see this table from the outside even if you try. Freddie was a seasoned introvert, and, oddly enough, he was not enthusiastic about manifestations of adoration from unfamiliar fans.

Of course, it was impossible not to sit down at that very table. It is still reserved. They are waiting for someone.

Unfortunately, the original building was demolished in 2007, I made it in time. The restaurant has been recreated in a new location, and everything is very similar in design. But Freddie was never there.

And, of course, the statue. You all saw her.

It probably reflects what Mercury wanted to be. But in life he was completely different. For a creative person, such diversity is absolutely normal.

About Freddie's London house. It was planned to record the albums The Miracle and Innuendo in London, because Freddie by that time already felt average and did not want to travel around. But the attention of the press to Mercury's appearance forced him to go to Montreux and live there for the last three years. Mercury returned to London only in the spring of 1991.

It was a good life, since 24 years after its end we are happy to listen to his songs and get excited when we touch the scenery that surrounded him.