!!!Lucerne

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]. \\

16 December 2015

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

The ancient city of Lucerne can proudly represent all the stereotypes
about Switzerland. On the one hand, it lies on the rocky bank of a
beautiful lake, and at the same time it has settled at the foot of the
Alps, so that many majestic and snowy peaks with picturesque slopes can
be seen from practically any point of the city. Cosy streets — the other
famous feature of Switzerland — reveal a lot of neat decorated houses
and ancient cathedrals.

[{Image src='01_Lucerne, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Lucerne, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='426'}]

The name of the city means "illuminating" and stems from a legend.
People have been inhabiting these lands since the times of the Roman
Empire, but the information about settlements of that time is rather
scarce. According to a local legend, one night an angel came to the
first settlers. With a lantern in his hands, he descended and showed
them where to build a chapel. Later this church became the centre of the
present-day city. This event is considered to have happened in the 8th
century, but probably, this date can be just the time of the foundation
of the first chapel near Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee).

[{Image src='02_Seagulls near the Kapellbrücke Bridge.jpg' caption='Seagulls near the Kapellbrücke Bridge' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

The earliest mention of Lucerne in the chronicles is dated year 840, at
that time the cathedral had already become a part of the Monastery of
St. Leodegar im Hof. A very import event that influenced the development
of the city took place in 1220: it was the inauguration of the Gotthard
Pass — one of the most important passes in the Swiss Alps. Approximately
at the same time the fortified urban wall and several towers attached to
it were built.

[{Image src='03_Lucerne at night.jpg' caption='Lucerne at night' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='367'}]

In the 14th century Lucerne, along with the three other forest cantons
(Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden), formed the Swiss Confederacy, which
became a kind of a city-state. Only by the middle of the 19th century
Lucerne had lost its influence in the political sphere. However, later
it became one of the major Swiss cultural centres due to the development
of tourism.

[{Image src='04_Lucerne, Switzerland.jpg' caption='Lucerne, Switzerland' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='605'}]

The acquaintance with the sights of the city usually begins with the
oldest functioning wooden bridge in Europe — the 204-meter long
Kapellbrücke Bridge originally built in 1333. It was created as a part
of the urban fortifying construction on the Reuss river, and now it is
the major symbol of Lucerne. The bridge runs through the 34-meter tall
octagonal Wasserturm Tower standing in the middle of the river. In the
13th century this tower was a beacon, that later became a prison, then a
treasury, and nowadays it functions as a meeting house. Unfortunately,
in 1993 the bridge was seriously damaged by the fire, but later it was
carefully restored.

[{Image src='05_Kapellbrücke Bridge, Wasserturm (water tower).jpg' caption='Kapellbrücke Bridge, Wasserturm (water tower)' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='646'}]

The quarters of the Old Town are located on both banks of the Reuss
river. In the southern part of the city they form a triangular area
called Kleinstadt. Long ago this area was entirely situated within the
fortifying walls and served as an outpost of Lucerne. The most
interesting sights of this part of the city are the church complex of
Jesuitenkirche, considered to be the first Baroque church in
Switzerland, and the Ritterscher Palace built in 1557 in the Florentine
Renaissance style.

[{Image src='06_Spreuer Bridge (Spreuerbrücke).jpg' caption='Spreuer Bridge (Spreuerbrücke)' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

The other part of the Old Town, located on the northern bank of the
river, is not of the less interest and it has preserved the atmosphere
of the ancient times. Here you can find a tiny St. Peterskapelle (St.
Peter's Chapel) built in the 18th century on the place of its
predecessor — a church dated 1178. Not far from this place lie the city
hall and the former medieval public market Kornmarkt. The square of
Weinmarkt was the place where different religious ceremonies were held
in the later Middle Ages.

Along with the architectural monuments of Lucerne, there is one more
masterpiece included in the list of the world's greatest sculptures. It
is the Dying Lion (Das Löwendenkmal) — a monument carved in rock in
memory of the Swiss guards who were massacred in 1792 while storming the
Tuileries Palace in Paris. Mark Twain spoke of this sculpture as of "the
most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world".

[{Image src='07_Lion Monument.jpg' caption='Lion Monument' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='554'}]

But a walk down the streets of Lucerne will not leave you sad or lost at
all. We hope that our virtual tour will share beauty, harmony, purity
and tranquillity of this beautiful city.

[{Image src='08_View from the Mount Pilatus.jpg' caption='View from the Mount Pilatus' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='360'}]

\\ \\
[22 Panoramas of Lucerne|Geography/Europe/Switzerland/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Lucerne]










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