À propos de ce lieu
Set on the river quay directly across from the Chapel Bridge, the Jesuit Church of Saint Francis Xavier is the earliest large baroque sacred building north of the Alps in Switzerland. Begun in 1666 and consecrated in 1677, it was raised by the Jesuit order at the height of the Counter-Reformation, when Lucerne had become a stronghold of Catholic Switzerland and home to a thriving Jesuit college. Its plan follows the great mother church of the order, the Gesu in Rome, with a single wide nave built for preaching and fine acoustics rather than long processions. Step through the doors and the mood flips from restrained stone to an explosion of white and rose. Delicate stucco frames a soaring vault, and a towering pink high altar draws every eye, appearing to be polished marble though it is in fact painted plaster. Curiously, the two green onion domes that make the church so recognisable were only added in 1893, more than two centuries after the building itself was finished. Today the church doubles as one of Lucerne's finest concert halls, prized by organists and choirs for its glowing sound.
À retenir
- 1677 year — Consecrated as the first large baroque church in Switzerland
- 1893 year — The twin green onion domes were finally added to the towers
- 2 towers — Flank the long white riverside facade above the Reuss
📍 Bahnhofstrasse 11a, 6003, Luzern