Lucerne – The Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower as historical highlights

Lucerne is a very special Swiss city with many remarkable facets. Located in Switzerland, Lucerne offers the cultural and economic centre of Central Switzerland.

The 158 km long Reuss River divides the Lucerne City in two halves. At the shores of the Reuss there are, separated by a bridge, the old part and the new part of Lucerne. Connected by the oldest wooden bridge of the world, the so-called Chapel Bridge and the Spreu Bridge.

The Chapel Bridge is the famous landmark of Lucerne. Created already in 1365 after Christ and largely deteriorated by fire in 1993 and built up again, it is nowadays the tourist attraction for young and old. Hardly any place in Switzerland attracts as many national and international tourists. This is where art and culture lovers from all over the world meet.

The roofed bridge offers visitors a unique experience. Thus, there is the octagonal Water Tower almost in the middle of the Chapel Bridge, which was created already before the wooden bridge and which is a further landmark of Lucerne. Earlier used as a watchtower, torture chamber, treasure vault or municipal archives, it nowadays houses a souvenir shop and the club house of the artillery association.

A further attention getter is the uniqueness of the triangular plates that decorate the roof of this wooden bridge. The paintings created in the counter reformation nowadays comprise a repertoire of 110 paintings. During the time of development, they served for propaganda of city majors who appealed for faithfulness to the catholic church.

Lucerne is best connected to the well-developed Swiss railway network system, so that a visit without car is uncomplicatedly possible as well. The Swiss railway connects Lucerne with the international airports Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Car drivers as well will find their way to Lucerne via the adjoining A2 and numerous major roads without problems.

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