This section contains an overview of the most relevant monuments in Switzerland.
14 June 2021
The village’s history dates back to the pile dwellings, which were built between 4300 and 1570 B.C. The site of today’s Concise (canton of Vaud) had twenty-eight pile dwellings. In Roman times the village had a quarry, which supplied the builders of the provincial capital Aventicum (Avenches), with limestone. At this time, Conciza got its … Read more » “St. John the Baptist in Concise”
2 June 2021
Romanesque buildings (monasteries, castles and a few secular buildings) can also be seen in South Tyrol (see, for example, the Alpine Romanesque Road/ Alpine Strasse der Romanik, www.stiegenzumhimmel.it). The Benedictine Abbey of Marienberg in the village of Malles was originally located in Tarasp (Canton of Graubünden). It was founded in the 11th century. In the … Read more » “Marienberg Abbey”
2 June 2021
Available in German and Dutch.
2 June 2021
Available in French and Dutch
25 May 2021
Available in German (Bischofsschloss Leuk) and Dutch.
21 May 2021
Available in German (Das Beinhaus von Leuk) and Dutch.
20 May 2021
Who doesn’t know them, the chalets in the Swiss Alps? On the other hand, far less well known are le raccard or le mazot, two typical buildings for the Valais. This wooden building on four stone pillars about 50 centimetres high was used to store and process hay, grass, or grain. The pillars prevented mice … Read more » “The Mazot or Raccard”
19 May 2021
The medieval building is perched high on a rock above Sion (canton Valais) and offers a beautiful view of the Rhone Valley and the Alps. Around 1300, Bishop Boniface de Challant (1240-1308) built a castle on the hill. The castle served as a residence for the Bishop of Sion. It was destroyed in 1417 during … Read more » “Tourbillon Castle”
19 May 2021
Available in German (Allgemeine Lesegesellschaft Basel) and Dutch.
13 May 2021
The Romanesque church of Saint-Pierre-de-Clages (canton of Valais) is located between the Great St. Bernard Pass and the Simplon Pass, connecting the south and the north of Europe. The church was built in the first half of the 12th century. A document from Pope Eugenius III (1088-1153) mentions the church in 1153. It is a … Read more » “Saint-Pierre-de Clages”
