Zurich - Old Town (west)

From the Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich's Stadthausquai leads south past the Bauschänzli summer restaurant to Bürkliplatz and the Quaibrücke, which crosses the outflow of the Limmat to Bellevue Platz on the opposite bank. In Bürkliplatz is the landing stage for the lake steamers on which visitors can take delightful trips on Lake Zurich. To the south, in good weather, there is a splendid view over the lake to the Glarus Alps.

On the north side of Zurich's Münsterhof (No. 20) is the Zunfthaus zur Meisen, a magnificent Late Baroque guild-house (by D. Morf, 1752-57) in the style of a French hotel (town mansion) with a cour d'honneur, which now houses the Swiss National Museum's ceramic collection of the 18th C., (including Zurich work from the porcelain factory in the Schooren) near Kilchberg and a court of honor.

On the south side of Zurich's Münsterhof square is the Fraumünster (restored 1965), a three-aisled pillared basilica with a Gothic nave (13th-15th C.), an Early Gothic transept and a pointed spire. The Fraumünster was given by the Emperor Ludwig (Louis) the German to his daughter Hildegard in 853 and, from that time until the high Middle Ages, the head of the convent was also governor of the town.

Choir windows by Marc Chagall.

Between the Bahnhofstrasse and the left bank of the Limmat extends the western half of Zurich's old town. In this area is to be found the quiet tree-shaded Lindenhof, the site of a Roman fort and later of an Imperial stronghold and, today, a popular place for a short excursion. From the terrace there is a fine view of the old town.

To the south of St Peter's Church is the Münsterhof, a pleasant square in Zurich's Old Town, with a long history. On the Münsterbrüche (1838) over the Limmat stands a bronze equestrian statue (by H. Haller, 1937) of Burgomaster Waldmann (beheaded in 1489), under whose rule Zurich reached the peak of its power in the 15th C.

To the south of the Lindenhof, on a little hill, stands St Peter's Church, the oldest parish church in Zurich. It has an early 13th C. Romanesque choir under the tower and a Baroque nave (three-aisles, with galleries) of 1705. In 1538 the church acquired the largest clock dials in Europe, 8.7 m/29ft in diameter. The great preacher and writer J. C. Lavater (1741-1801) was pastor here for 23 years; his former house was the Hans zur Armbrust (No. 6) on the square outside the church.

From Zurich's Weinplatz, with the Weinbauer fountain (1909), we cross the Limmat on the Rathausbrücke (1878), successor to a series of earlier bridges which for centuries provided the only crossing. Along the banks of the Limmat are well-preserved old Burghers' houses, such as the "Schipfe" housing complex on the west bank which dates from the 17th-18th C.

On the west side of Zurich's Münsterhof square is an old guild-house (No. 8), the Zunfthaus zur Waag (1636; restaurant) with a stately Baroque doorway and Late-Gothic window-frames in the guild-hall.