A great place if one is interested in history of ceramics and glass, including china, porcelain, pottery, stoneware, and earth wear.. The museum offers workshops and also thematic evenings, though most in French. There is a big permanent exhibition on the ground and first floors, with temporary exhibitions normally taking place on the lower ground floor. The museum has over 27, 000 objects, illustrating seven centuries of ceramics in Geneva, Switzerland, Europe, and the East. Great to pair the visit to Ariana with the visit to Baur Foundation Museum dedicated to the East and Orient culture. The Ariana museum was built between 1877 and 1884 on the initiative of Gustave Revilliod ( 1817 - 1890) to house his private collection and was named after his mother, Ariane de la Rive.The building, bearing neo-classic and neo-baroque features, sits in a small park with views to the United Nations. The story goes that Gustave bequeathed the museum to Geneva City on the condition that the land surrounding the building will not be occupied by any other buildings. The promise that the City broke by giving away part of the land to build the United Nations. So, the area around the museum is much smaller than before. However, the building still looks impressive. One of the public initiatives that was organised by the museum last Christmas (2017) was porcelain star making workshop. The participants made individual stars to their liking for later hanging on a huge Christmas tree in the hall of the museum. The stars could be admired the whole Christmas holidays and on the last day of it the participants could come and find their star on the tree or if not, then take as a present a star they liked.