!!!Bern

by Stas Sedov and
Sergey Shandin,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

1 August 2016

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Surprisingly enough, the capital of Switzerland is not the largest city
of this country. Bern, with the population of around 138,000 people, is
only the fifth biggest Swiss city after Lausanne, Basel, Geneva and
Zürich. But this small cozy settlement is full of rather ancient sights
listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2014 Bern was declared the
most beautiful city of the country by the citizens themselves.

[{Image src='01_Bern, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Bern, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='495'}]

The founding of Bern was initiated on the peninsula formed by the River
Aare in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. The very first buildings
were wooden and in 1405 they were destroyed by a major fire. The city of
Bern that we can witness nowadays began its existence in the 15th
century: at that time a new city plan with stone-dominated constructions
was created.

Comparing to many other ancient cities the historic center of Bern
features long and wide streets covered with unique awning-arcades. The
most notable architectural landmark of Bern is the Cathedral (the Bern
Minster), which is also the tallest cathedral in Switzerland (with a
height of 100.6 meters). Its construction started in 1421 and lasted for
150 years, but then was ceased for centuries. Only in 1893 the
installation of the spire was fulfilled and the Cathedral took on its
present look. Its main entrance is decorated with a series of Late
Gothic statues that represent the Last Judgment and  is one of the best
sculpture ensembles in Europe.

[{Image src='02_Bern, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Bern, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='573'}]

The other ancient and rather significant monument of Bern is the
Zytglogge — a medieval tower with an astronomical clock. It was built in
around 1220 and served as a fortifying gate tower and later converted
into a prison. But after the great fire in 1405 it was completely
rebuilt and since then it has become a clock tower. It received its
present look after restoration works in the 16th century at the same
time the clock, presently decorating the facade, was installed. Besides
the sun, the moon, signs of Zodiac and many other astronomical things,
the clock features a lot of other unusual characters: a fool — bell
striker, a knight, a rooster, the god of time Chronos, and the symbol of
the city — an armed bear.

[{Image src='03_Bern, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Bern, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='599'}]

Sometimes Bern is referred as "the city of fountains": there are more
than 100 of them, and each has its unique story. The most famous one is
the Child Eater Fountain (the Kindlifresserbrunnen) at the
Kornhausplatz. It was built in the middle of the 16th century in the
place of a former wooden fountain, but the reason for choosing such a
theme is still not revealed for certain. The fountain sculpture
represents a sitting ogre devouring a naked child, holding a bag
containing more children. According to certain theories, the giant is
the Greek god Chronos, only one mentioning of whom was used to
discipline disobedient children.

Among relatively new but still significant constructions of Bern there
is the Federal Palace (1894-1902) which houses the main governmental
bodies of the country. The total cost of its construction was a record
even for Switzerland at that time — 7 million Swiss Francs. But in
addition to its main functions it has become one more significant
landmark of the city. The total height of the building is 64 meters, the
inner height of the dome is 33 meters. The facade is decorated with
numerous marble details, plasterworks and woodcarvings.

[{Image src='04_Bern, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Bern, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='591'}]

Together with sculptural and architectural monuments of Bern there are
some unusual "natural" landmarks in the city. One of them is the Bear
pit (Bärengraben) — a special place for keeping heraldic animals.
Situated at the eastern edge of the old city of Bern, on the bank of the
River Aar, there is a park where bears have enough space and conditions
for fishing, climbing trees, playing and even resting in seclusion. One
more place where you can forget about fuss and noise of the city is the
Rose Garden. In addition to the 220 species of roses you can also enjoy
the look of the irises and rosebays.

[{Image src='05_Bern, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Bern, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

And, among other sights of the capital of Switzerland, there are a lot
of great museums — beginning with the Einstein museum and ending with
the Wildlife and Hunting museum, all of them are waiting for visitors!
Of course, this city is worth visiting personally, but for now, you can
visit it even being far away from it — through our panoramas!

\\ \\
[11 Panoramas of Bern|Geography/Europe/Switzerland/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Bern]










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