Welcome to Lucerne – a city that is rightfully considered to be the cradle of Switzerland. This place is filled with history and amazing legends are floating in the air.
We begin our journey with one of the most famous attractions not only in Lucerne but in whole Switzerland – the Chapel Bridge (Kappelbrücke). More than 5 million tourists come to Lucerne annually to walk along this wooden bridge built in the 14th century. It’s named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel and spans the River Reuss not directly but diagonally. Perhaps it was the patronage of St. Peter that helped the bridge to survive all the adversities of the last 700 years: fires, hurricanes and floods. The last fire occurred in 1993. The flame is believed to have started from an accidently thrown cigarette. The bridge is now carefully guarded, as unique wooden boards with paintings created by Hans Heinrich Wagmann are preserved under its roof. They depict episodes from the lives of Lucerne’s patrons - St. Leodegar and St. Mauricius.
The bridge rounds the octagonal stone water tower in the midstream. Head towards the Water Tower, it should be on your left hand side. Historians believe that the tower was erected around 1300; it was built on land, most likely - a small natural island in the river, and served as part of Lucerne’s city fortifications.
The octagonal shape is the whim of Kaiser Frederick II: the monarch adored this form and ordered to use it in almost all buildings constructed when he was in power. The walls at the foot of the water tower are a record four and a half meters thick. Soon after the construction, the tower was used for other purposes: a dungeon for the most vicious criminals appeared in the basement. The Tower was later handed over to the Lucerne Artillery Association, to which it belongs up to this day.
