À propos de ce lieu
Wedged between the towering Grossmünster and the graceful Fraumünster, the Wasserkirche, or water church, is one of Zurich's most atmospheric sacred spaces. For centuries it stood on a genuine island in the Limmat, reachable only by boat or a narrow footbridge, until the construction of the Limmatquai in 1839 joined it to the riverbank. The present late Gothic building was completed in 1486 by master builder Hans Felder on a site steeped in legend as the place where the city's patron saints were beheaded in the year 301. Its long afterlife is just as remarkable: stripped bare during Ulrich Zwingli's Reformation and turned into a warehouse in 1524, it became Zurich's first public library in 1634, before being restored to sacred and cultural use in 1942, when the artist Augusto Giacometti added the glowing stained glass windows that light its choir today.
À retenir
- 1486 year — The present late Gothic church was completed by master builder Hans Felder
- 3 windows — Luminous stained glass choir windows were created by Augusto Giacometti in 1942
- 1634 year — The deconsecrated church reopened as Zurich's very first public library
📍 Limmatquai 29, 8001, Zürich