Basel Minster

Southeast of the Basle Marktplatz the long Münsterhügel (Minster Hill) rises above the Rhine (reached from St-Alban-Graben by way of Rittergasse). The spacious Münsterplatz, on the site of the Roman fort, is an elegant 18th C. square.

The Minster stands on the highest point of the hill, dominating the city with its two slender spires, its masonry of red Vosges sandstone and its colorful patterned roof. The oldest parts of the building date from the ninth-13th C. It was rebuilt in Gothic style after an earthquake in 1356, and was a cathedral until the Reformation. The high altar and much of the furnishings were destroyed by militant Protestants in 1529. The church's greatest treasures were concealed in the vaulting of the sacristy and escaped destruction, but were sold when the canton was divided into two in 1833 and are now partly in the Historical Museum in Basle and partly dispersed among other museums throughout the world.