Canton: Uri (UR)
Altdorf, capital of the canton of Uri, a little town with a long and eventful history, lies 3km/2mi south of the outflow of the Reuss into Lake Uri in a wide plain at the mouth of the Schächen valley; it is the starting-point of the road over the Klausen pass. It is here that William
Tell is supposed to have shot at the apple on his son's head. The parish is believed to have been established in the 10th C., although the first appearance of Altdorf in the records is only in 1223. After the struggle to shake off Habsburg rule the place acquired political and economic importance as capital of the territory of Uri, which until 1439 was self-governing in direct subordination to the Emperor.