Fribourg Attractions

Fribourg's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire contains prehistoric, Roman and medieval artifacts plus Fribourg sculpture, painting and decorative objects from the 11th to 20th centuries. A currency collection can be viewed. There are also temporary art exhibits.

The 16th C. chapel of St Bartholomé (restored 1970) has fine stained glass and is found to the west of Fribourg's Avenue de Pérolles.

The 12th C. Church of Notre-Dame, the oldest church in Fribourg (altered 1787 and 1853) with a Baroque-Classical facade, is found in Place Notre-Dame (Samson fountain by Hans Gieng, 1547, original in museum).

Immediately north of Fribourg's Place Notre-Dame is the Franciscan friary with a church (Eglise des Cordeliers; choir 1281, nave 1745-46). It contains some notable works of art, including an altarpiece by the "Master of the Carnation" (1481), a predella with a painting by Hans Fries, "The Death of the Usurer" (1506), and a carved and gilded wooden triptych (ca. 1513).

An exhibition of Contemporary art housed in a renovated factory.

This annual day-long festival takes place in early September.

Switzerland's alpine plants are on exhibit plus medicinal plants, orchids and roses.

The Natural History Museum is a large earth sciences exhibition including: minerals; fossils; zoology; botany; birds; insects; fish and reptiles.

In Neuveville (Fribourg's lower town), are two attractive fountains - in Place du Perthuis (alt. 553 m/1,814ft; funicular to upper town) the Fontaine du Sauvage (1627), and at the end of Rue de la Neuveville the Fontaine de la Prudence (1550); Gothic house fronts.

Sights in Fribourg's Old Town include the Town Hall, the Cathedral of St Nicholas, the Church of Notre-Dame and the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire.

In the Planche area of the lower town of Fribourg, on the right bank of the Sarine, is the church of St-Jean (1529; later enlarged). Above Planche are the Couvent de Montorge and two chapels. Southwest of Planche, on the Banks of the Sarine, is the Couvent de la Maigrauge, a Cistercian nunnery with a church built before 1300.

Fribourg's Avenue de Pérolles runs south through the Pérolles quarter from the nearby Place de la Gare to the Pont de Pérolles. Sights of interest include the church of Christ the King (1954).

This highly-acclaimed festival takes place in late August and usually lasts for five days.

The festival brings together folk musicians and dancers from around the world and also includes traditional trades fairs and expositions.

Gold and ivory from the 15th-20th C. including chalices, statuettes, and candlesticks.

A collection of sewing machines and irons from the 16th-20th C, vacuum cleaners from 1890-1919, 19C washing machines plus hatters and shoe-makers tools.

To the southwest of Fribourg's upper town is the newer district around the station, with the Grand' Places, from which there is a beautiful view of the old town and the Sarine valley.

A permanent puppet collection detailing the evolution of Swiss, European and Asian puppets.

In the middle of Fribourg's old town is the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, where the Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville or Hôtel Cantonal), built 1501-22 by Gylian and Hans Felder the Younger, has an octagonal clock-tower (lantern added 1642) and two attractive arched friezes above the entrance (1881 Charles Iguel). The interior has Louis XVI style paneling and Gothic 16th C. windows by Martin Gramp decorate the "Hall of the Lost Steps".

The adjoining Baroque-Classical Stadthaus (addition to Town Hall) was built 1730-31 by Hans Fasel.

Fribourg's University (by Dumas and Honegger, 1941) is situated to the west of Place Georges-Python, beyond the railroad. It has an art collection and a museum of natural history and ethnography. The great hall is decorated with 17th C. tapestry.

From Fribourg to Hauterive

Leave Fribourg by Avenue du Midi. In 3km/2mi the road crosses the Glâne, a short distance above its junction with the Sarine, on a bridge above the gorge of the river. 2km/1mi beyond the bridge a road goes off on the left and runs 2km/1mi south to the Cistercian Abbey of Hauterive (inn), in a bend of the Sarine.

The church of the Cistercian Abbey of Hauterive (1160), in the purest Cistercian style, has fine stained glass (1332) and richly carved choir-stalls (1480).

Stained glass from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque era plus modern 19th and 20th century works are on display in this chateau which also houses the Swiss Center for Research of Stained Glass.

The Mineralogical Museum in Rougemont features more than 2,000 minerals and fossils from Switzerland and France are on display.

This is a two-day festival in Semsales, which usually takes place in late September or early October.