Zürich is Switzerland's largest city and the capital of the canton of Zürich, set on the northern tip of Lake Zürich where the Limmat river leaves the lake, with the Alps visible on clear days. It combines a medieval old town, world-class museums, lakeside swimming, and the luxury shopping of Bahnhofstrasse with famously punctual public transport and very high prices.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Zürich.
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1
Roman Turicum Founded
Rome establishes a customs and garrison post named Turicum on the Lindenhof hill above the Limmat, controlling lake and river traffic
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2
Fraumünster Abbey Founded
King Louis the German endows the Fraumünster abbey for his daughter Hildegard, and the abbess later rules the town and mints its coins
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3
Grossmünster Construction Begins
Work starts on the Romanesque Grossmünster, completed around 1220 on the site of the graves of the city's patron saints Felix and Regula
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4
Free Imperial City
After the Zähringer dukes die out, Zürich becomes a free imperial city answerable only to the Holy Roman Emperor
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5
Brun's Guild Revolution
Rudolf Brun leads the guilds to power, creating a constitution that shares government between merchants and craft guilds
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6
Zürich Joins the Swiss Confederacy
Zürich becomes the fifth member of the Swiss Confederacy, anchoring the alliance's eastern flank
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7
Zwingli Arrives at the Grossmünster
Huldrych Zwingli begins preaching in Zürich, launching the Swiss Reformation; the city council adopts reforms in 1523-1525
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8
Zwingli Killed at Kappel
Zwingli dies in the Second War of Kappel against the Catholic cantons, leaving Heinrich Bullinger to lead Zürich's church
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9
First Swiss Railway
The Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn opens between Zürich and Baden, the first railway entirely in Switzerland
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10
Federal Polytechnic Founded
The Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum, today ETH Zürich, opens, later training Albert Einstein, who enrolled in 1896
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11
Swiss National Museum Opens
The Landesmuseum opens beside the main station in a historicist castle-like building by Gustav Gull
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12
Dada Born at Cabaret Voltaire
Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings and friends found the Cabaret Voltaire at Spiegelgasse 1, launching the Dada art movement
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13
Women Gain the Vote in Canton Zürich
Zürich voters approve women's suffrage in cantonal affairs, a year before the national decision of 1971
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14
UNESCO Pile Dwellings Inscribed
Prehistoric pile-dwelling sites around the Alps, including lakeside sites in Zürich, are added to the UNESCO World Heritage List
Historical sites
Places where Zürich's past comes alive.
Lindenhof and Roman Turicum
The hill above the Limmat where Romans built the Turicum customs post and later Carolingian rulers raised a royal palace, now a public terrace under linden trees.
Where: Lindenhof, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Free
Grossmünster
The Romanesque minster where Huldrych Zwingli began the Swiss Reformation in 1519, its twin towers the emblem of Zürich.
Where: Grossmünsterplatz, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Church free; tower approx. CHF 5 (approx $6.25)
Fraumünster Abbey Church
A former women's abbey founded in 853, with a green spire, a medieval cloister and Marc Chagall's stained-glass windows.
Where: Münsterhof, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Approx. CHF 5 (approx $6.25)
St. Peter's Church
One of Zürich's oldest parish churches, carrying the largest church clock face in Europe.
Where: St. Peterhofstatt, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Free
Wasserkirche (Water Church)
A late Gothic church built on a former island in the Limmat, once the site of the city's martyrs' execution and later a library.
Where: Limmat riverbank, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Free
Zürich Rathaus (Town Hall)
The late-Renaissance and early-baroque town hall on the Limmat, seat of the cantonal parliament.
Where: Limmatquai, Zürich Old Town
Admission: Free to view exterior; interior on guided tours
Cabaret Voltaire (Birthplace of Dada)
The cabaret where Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings launched the Dada movement in 1916, now an art venue.
Where: Spiegelgasse 1, Niederdorf
Admission: Free to approx. CHF 10 depending on event
ETH Zürich Main Building
The neo-Renaissance main building of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, designed by Gottfried Semper, a campus where Einstein studied.
Where: Rämistrasse 101, Zürich
Admission: Free (interior open during opening hours)
Kyburg Castle
A well-preserved medieval castle east of Zürich, once a seat of the Counts of Kyburg and later of the Habsburgs and of Zürich's governors.
Where: Kyburg, Canton Zürich (day trip)
Admission: Approx. CHF 10 (approx $12.50)
Rheinau Monastery (Klosterinsel Rheinau)
A former Benedictine abbey on an island in the Rhine, with a baroque church and cloister, in the north of the canton.
Where: Rheinau, Canton Zürich (day trip)
Admission: Free grounds; church free