12 Monuments to Explore in Switzerland

The Abbey is a historic monument dating from the 18th century. Towering over the center of the village of Bellelay, a place imbued with history, this building in the Baroque style is a cultural and artistic meeting point. After the newly-completed refurbishment of the grand organ, I attended a concert that transported me into a world of musical splendor. The entire site is rich in history and is well worth exploring.

The amphitheatre of Vindonissa is the oldest in Switzerland. It was erected by the 13th legion, initially being made of wood. After a fire, the 21st legion replaced it with the stone structure that survives today. The seating area had a capacity of some 11,000 spectators while the oval arena in the centre measured 64x52 metres - the largest of the seven known amphitheatres on Swiss territory.

The Brunswick Monument is a mausoleum built-in 1879 in the Jardin des Alpes in Geneva, Switzerland to commemorate the life of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick. He bequeathed his fortune to the city of Geneva in exchange for a monument to be built in his name, specifying that it be a replica of the Scaliger Tombs in Verona, Italy. The Grand Théâtre de Genève, opened in 1879, was built with the legacy. It was one of the ancient attractions in this area and also a nice tourist attraction.

The Dreiländereck is a monument in Basel, Switzerland. It marks the tripoint where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet. The France–Germany border, the Germany–Switzerland border and France–Switzerland border meet there. The tripoint itself is located in the middle of the river Rhine. The monument dedicated to it is in Swiss territory, on a point of land approximately 150 metres to the south-east.

The Lion Monument in Lucerne is a giant dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond at the east end of the medieval town. It was designed as a memorial for the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

Hardly another monument in the city of Basel has become such a symbol of the city as the Middle Bridge. Opened in 1226, it is one of the oldest Rhine crossings between Lake Constance and the North Sea. The Middle Bridge was initially used for local traffic, in conjunction with the development of the route over the Gotthard Pass as an international trade route, in the 14th century it gained significance as a crossing over the Rhine for international trade.

The Strasbourg monument in Basel stands on the Centralbahnplatz near the SBB train station and commemorates the humanitarian aid during the siege of Strasbourg in the Franco-German War. The monument, created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1895, was donated by the French Baron Hervé de Gruyer , as thanks for the Swiss support of the population of the heavily shelled French city of Strasbourg in neighboring Alsace.

This monument was created by Richard Kissling between 1882 to 1895 in memory of the freedom fighter Wilhelm Tell. It was made in bronze and It shows the Swiss national hero with his crossbow and accompanied by his son. At the base is the traditional date of Rütlischwur of 1307.

The “Celestial Sphere” is the large, metal sculpture located at the Palais des Nations on the Cour d’honneur easily viewed both from the UN Cafeteria and upstairs in the Assembly Hall from the Salle des pas perdus. The Celestial Sphere was installed in 1939 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the League of Nations and to honor the leadership of American President Woodrow Wilson.

Artistic monument of European importance and best-preserved Cistercian monastery in Switzerland. It houses a richly carved baroque choir stall and a Romanesque-Gothic cloister with stained glass from the 13th to the 17th century. The empty buildings at Wettingen were placed at the disposal of the teachers' training college. Since 1976 they have been used by the Wettingen Canton School. Roman Catholic services are held every week in the former abbey church, and weddings are also celebrated there.

The Winkelried Monument is a monument to Arnold Winkelried on the village square of Stans, Canton of Nidwalden, Switzerland. The location between the church and the town hall underlines the importance of the monument. A group of three figures in Carrara marble is depicted. The Winkelried Monument represents the attempt to capture a heroic gesture in a harmonious, classicist triangular shape. This represented a new form of the war memorial, which however remained without a successor.

The Zähringerbrunnen fountain is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Bern. The statue is a bear in full armor, with another bear cub at his feet. The bear represents the bear, that according to legend, Berchtold shot on the Aare peninsula as he was searching for a site to build a city.