Today I'm going to explore a city in central Switzerland called Lucerne. Do you want to join me?
Let's see what we can find there!
Lucerne is one of the most popular places in Switzerland. It attracts tourists with its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps. But this is not everything what Lucerne offers to its visitors..
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 24 mm
We came to the city on Saturday morning which is the busiest day of the week. People go to the city to meet their friends, have a cup of coffee or just walk around and enjoy this beautiful place. We also followed the trend and had a cup of coffee with delicious breakfast to start the day.
Bridges
Lucerne is famous for its two covered wooden bridges across the river Reuss. This bridge is called Spreuerbrücke (Spreuer Bridge).
The bridge got its name Spreuerbrücke because this was the only place from where the chaff from wheat could be deposited into the river.
The south wing of the bridge was built in 1408. The north wing was built at the beginning of the 19th century. The bridge contains 67 panels depicting the Dance of Death. These were created by Kaspar Meglinger and added in the 17th century.
It was interesting to walk on a construction that is more than 600 years old!
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/14 18 mm
Kapellbrücke (Chapel bridge) is just a few hundred meters away from the Spreuerbrücke. I considered this bridge to be the symbol of Lucerne.
The bridge was built in 1333 and destroyed in a fire in 1993. Luckily it was restored to its current appearance. It is 200 meters long and mostly crowded. It's impossible to walk fast and you need to be careful not to lose your children there 😊
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/10 18 mm
The triangular paintings under the eaves of their rooftops were added to the bridge in the 17th century. The paintings were done by artist Hans Wägmann and the text was written by councilman Hans Rudolf von Sonnenberg. I was not able to take a good photo of this artwork as it was very dark there, so you will have to come to Lucerne to see it 😊
The Wasserturm (Water tower) is one of the most well - known landmarks in the city. A very interesting fact about the tower is that it is thicker than it is high. It doesn't look like it, does it? It's 34.5 meters high and its circumference is 38 meters.
It served various purposes over the years. The lowest room was used as a prison. It was a pitch dark room and the prisoners were lowered into the cell through a hole while sitting on a toggle. Scary!
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
Let's cross the bridge now, shall we?
When you are walking on the bridge you can enjoy some spectacular views of the city. On the left side there is a Jesuit church that was founded in 1534.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/11 18 mm
The green alley with mountains in the back..
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
On the top of the hill there is the Hotel Château Gütsch. The castle was built in 1888 as a private residence. It was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
The castle was turned into a luxurious hotel in 2014 by Russian businessman Evgeny Lebedev.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 25 mm
From the middle of the bridge we can admire the beautiful architecture of the old town.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 22 mm
Approaching the end of the bridge we get to see more details on the buildings. The building with the plant growing all over the facade is my favorite!
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 29 mm
It's almost lunchtime and people are gathering in the restaurants, so we will head to the lake and hopefully there will be not that many tourists around. Don't worry, we have some snacks so you won't be hungry! 😊
Lake
Lake Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne) is surrounded by four cantons: Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Lucerne and it is the fourth largest lake in Switzerland.
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/13 30 mm
There is a long lakefront promenade with many hotels and restaurants. And swans! Many of them!
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
The views of the Swiss Alps are spectacular!
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/13 26 mm
You can go on a boat ride to get to the other parts of the lake..
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
The weather was perfect for sailing. There were many boats of various sizes!
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/16 45 mm
The promenade continues behind the hotels and restaurants too. We walked for about 30 minutes until we reached a green spot. We sat there for a few moments, ate our snacks and returned back to the city as there was still so much to see!
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/16 50 mm
Old town
Are you tired already? Let's sit down in a church as it's too hot outside!
The Church of St. Leodegar is also knows as the Hof Church.
The first church was here in the 8th century but there are only a few original fragments left. It was built as a part of Benedictine monastery that founded Lucerne later on so in fact the church is older than the city itself!
The church as we see it today is built on a hill and can be visible from far away because of its Gothic twin towers that survived the fire in 1633. The rest of the church was rebuilt in Renaissance style between 1633 and 1644.
The white stone interior has rich wrought iron work, carvings, and gilt statues and altars.
St. Mary's Altar on the left is decorated with the relief panel from 1500.
The High Altar on the right was inspired by a Roman design and was built of black marble.
Are you ready to go back to the city?
First, we will visit the Lion Monument. It is a memorial for the soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives during the French Revolution. It represents a dying lion carved out in sandstone rock. It was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and created by Lucas Ahorn in 1821 . It is located at the end of the city center and hidden behind the buildings so make sure not to miss it!
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 24 mm
Now we can look at the beautiful architecture of some buildings that I liked the most!
The Weinmarkt (Wine Market) is a lovely square in the old town. A lot of the buildings on this square have painted facades. I took this photo in the evening as there was an art market in the morning here and it was very busy.
The building in the back is called Haus zur Sonne and the painting on the facade is Marriage at Canaan created by Eduard Renggli in 1928
The fountain is a copy of the original which was built in 1481.
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/10 23 mm
Lucerne is famous for its buildings with beautifully painted facades. These two are just an example of what you can see there. The one on the right is a very popular restaurant. If you want to get a good table next to the river you need to make a reservation a few days in advance!
The Mühlenplatz on the left is a bucolic square at the west end of the old town. It is located close to the Spreuerbrücke.
Schwanenplatz on the right is the starting point for visitors to enter the old town. In the past the town ended here with a wall and a gate. Today the Kapellbrücke is ending here.
And so out tour is coming to the end too!
I hope you had fun with me today!
I would like to add that I was nominated for MySTEEM Angel by @see-it-feel-it and if you think I'm the right person for this title you can support me here. I will be grateful for every single vote! Thank you!
Cheers,
Martina
All pictures are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the text)
Join us @steemitbloggers
Animation By @zord189
wow... simply amazing how you can manage to keep bringing such interesting and beautiful things to us regularly! Its truly a beautiful world you are showing us :D
It's a lot of work but I still enjoy that :) Thank you Dave!! There will be again something from a different country next week :)
I reblogged your post last night, but it was too late, so I am back with my comment now.
I am totally mesmerized by the beauty of this little town Martina. The nature and the architecture is just like from a fairy tale. But we know that is the famous charm of Switzerland and Europe in general. Your photography captures the beauty perfectly as always and I enjoyed it very much. And of course, reading about the history is extremely captivating as well. Well done my Dear 🌸💖🌸
And I've seen your comment last night but it was too late to come back to you so I just upvoted it :)
Thank you so much for your kind words my dear Lena! Switzerland is so beautiful and I would love to be able to travel more within the country. Hopefully I will get to show you more during the winter months!
Have a great start of the week!
That bridge is first one of that kind I ever seen.
Picture after text...
This is the most famous bridge in Switzerland.. I don't think there are any other wooden bridges that are big like that so I can imagine that you haven't seen something like that before :)
You are right! But in Lucerne is just a one street :)
Thank you for stopping by and for your input!
That bridge, that city, the views, just wow! Living in a country like Finland, where everything is basically flat, the Alps feel almost magical. I've visited the French Alps in Chamonix twice, but I'd love see them in Switzerland as well, especially now when I've seen all your photos and read about every place you went to! Wonderful post again @delishtreats, you always know how to surprise me with traveling experiences! :)
Thank you Jasmin! It's good to hear from you again! I've never been to Finland but I guess it's similar to the Netherlands so I know what you're talking about it. This is why I would never move there as I would miss the mountains so much!
You should definitely visit Switzerland and when you'll be here let me know and I'll take you around!
Oh, I'd love to visit Switzerland, and have such a great guide as you! One day... :)
Glad I managed to catch up to one of your blogs!
Thanks for the awesome tour throughout Lucerne and surrounding lakes. Indeed the architecture does look incredible and I love the old gothic style, it really is taking you to a different period in time and great they restored it after all those fires!
Looking forward to seeing where the delishtreats tour bus takes us next :)
Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad you managed too!
The Swiss are very good with restoring old historical sites. Switzerland is full with restored buildings! If you ever manage you can check my post about Schaffhausen that was bombed during the World War and restored to its original appearance.
Can't wait to share more of my travel adventures with you!
That sounds awesome and I do definitely need to investigate Switzerland, if not for its natural beauty with the mountains (hiker guy here) then for it's interestingly designed towns and cities :)
Looking forward to reading more about it!
Beautiful old bridges, stunning architecture, blue skies, and oh those mountains! My goodness what a place to take in. I can only imagine how much more stunning it is in person, but you have captured so much of it for us to see. What a perfect day to be out and about. Each post inspires me that much more to start saving my pennies to travel. Thank you as always for adding that little bit of magic to my day!
That city really has everything what I need when I travel! :)
You should start traveling soon! And when you're in Europe I'll take you to my favorite places!
Thank you Katie for your kind words!
It is definitely nice to have gotten to know so many people from all over the world on here--makes it seem a lot smaller and more manageable to travel. With all of your expert experience, you would be one of the first people I ask about travel tips! :)
Beautiful city and beautiful post. I like the "green alley" photo and the mountains across the lake. I also like the painted facades on the buildings. And of course the old architecture and golden church altar are incredible. The old town looks like a fairy tale village. Thanks for taking us there with you :)
Thank you for your great comment Steve! To me it's one of the most beautiful cities in Switzerland as you have there everything - lake, mountains, beautiful architecture, parks, views..
It's also very popular and it was so crowded in the morning. I had to come to some places in later in the day to take photos as it was simply not possible in the morning with so many people around!
Another classic Martina tour, loved the photos. The old town by the water looks so peaceful and quaint. Thank you for showing us more of Switzerland :D
Hahaha, classic Martina tour! I'll start using this term! I'm glad that you liked it! I hope all is well in Spain! Thank you for stopping by!
It's been a long time since I've been in Lucerne, but your photos make it look amazing! You really caught some great colours between the sky and the water. Lovely place to have visited, hojpe you didn't find everything too expensive though....
Thank you for stopping by! We were lucky with the weather so I had a chance to take some nice photos :) I live in Switzerland so I'm used to the prices already but yes, in general it's very expensive here..
Oh, you live there! I was just recently there, and I forgot how expensive it was... but I was only there for a night, so it was only a single dinner gave me a shock!
Yes, I'm not Swiss but I've been living here for almost 8 years now..
Don't worry, I'm shocked as well when I go for a dinner and I live here so I should get used to it already :)
Wao I love your shots @delishtreats, Yes i would definitely love to go on photowalk with you, there's a lot to learn from you.
I wanna know you are using canon or nikon and did you use tripod ? ? ?
Thank you for your comment and thank you for asking! This is the first time that I forgot to put the type of the camera in the text! I'm using Nikon and will now add it to the post :)
Let me know when you're around and I'll take you on a photowalk! :) It will be my pleasure!
oops i don't know actually when I will be around let steem be the next bitcoin then we can travel the world for a photowalk :D
I love how you're giving the lens and the speed and all that, that's awesome. Makes me feel a part of the photo a lot more. These are beautiful shots!
Thank you so much! I'm not a photographer but I like to share the technical stuff :) It's really not difficult to take beautiful photos in such an amazing city! :)
What a fabulous post! Great descriptions and equally awesome photos!
Thanks for this, it sure brought me some memories! This is such a gorgeous city. I wouldn't mind going there again, but Switzerland has become extremely expensive for my pocket.
Thanks for your great comment! Nice to hear that you've been there! When was it? Oh, yes, Switzerland is CRAZY expensive even for people working here! :) Some services are exaggerated..
My memory fails me... It was around year 2000. I think. The prices were still acceptable.
Oh, ok... I came here in 2010 and it's been crazy at that time..
The architecture is just magnificent. I love the gothic twin towers, the carved lion and can picture my husband and I sitting at the river front restaurant enjoying the view (because we made a reservation a few days in advance). Always a great tour @delishtreats- your life is amazing!
Wow such a beautiful city, and i love your post and shots you did a great job. Switzerland is my favorite european country so charming. Thanks for sharing. Regards
Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad that you liked it! Which places here have you visited before?
great travel reportage dear @delishtreats wonderful shots and description that is really thorough. I think I will visit Lucerne as soon as possible.
Thank you Armando! I'm happy that I inspired you to visit Lucerne!
Never been to Lucerne before, but thanks for showing me around. Seems like a nice place. The Spreuerbrücke looks a bit like the Hogwarts bridge where Prof. Lupin and Harry have a small talk in the Prisoner of Azkaban.
You should come, it's not so far from the Netherlands :)
I didn't realize that but now when you say it.. you're right!!! :)
Thank you for stopping by and supporting me!
Hehe it ain't that far indeed! Will you guide me around?
Of course I will! Just tell me when you come :)
Hiya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our daily Travel Digest. Please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider upvoting the Travel Digest if you like what we're doing.
Thank you! Of course I'll check out other posts too!
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=delishtreats
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=switzerland-travel-series-part-6-lucerne
Want to have your post on the map too?
this is a very cool and fun journey, I hope your day is fun, I am amazed by your extraordinary self, I want to be able to be like you are going to a beautiful country.
Thank you for your comment! Actually I live in Switzerland and Lucerne is about 1 hour drive from the place where I live :)
yes, but I want to have time like you to vacation to a beautiful place like your photography, want to spend time on vacation, greetings from @prob, hopefully you can also die my photography, sorry
I hope you'll be able to take some vacation days soon! I'll check your blog next week as I'm leaving for the weekend now!
Such a great tour of Lucerne Martina. Our awesome virtual tour guide!
I hope another one on your list to visit! :) Thank you for stopping by Sara!
Yes I should start making a list for the cities to visit in Switzerland when I come. The bookmarks in Steempeak are great for this. Yay, it is getting me excited.
I wanted to start using Steempeak but haven't managed yet. Would you recommend that?
Yes, Martina do it. I love it and have been using it exclusively for months. Also, my brother @jarvie is one of the founders. They are super responsive and are really working to make a great site.
Thank you for the information Sara!! I will do it on Monday when I'm back at home! :)
How is it that there's not many people in your photos particularly the Lion Monument? I thought this lovely town is flooded with tourist nowadays.
It was flooded with tourists but I came to the Lion monument around 6 PM so there were not that many people anymore plus I got a spot where I could take a photo with nobody on it.. I had to wait for a minute or so but I was lucky at the end! The city was so busy in the morning but it's almost empty towards the evening..
Thank you for stopping by!
So beautiful 👌
Posted using Partiko Android
Congratulations! Your high quality-travel content was selected by @travelfeed curator @fordays and earned you a reward, in form of a 100% upvote and a resteem. Your work really stands out. Your article now has a chance to get curated and featured under the appropriate daily topic of our Travelfeed blog. Thank you for participating in #travelfeed!
Learn more about our travel project on Steemit by clicking on the banner above and join our community on Discord
Dear @delishtreats,
Thank you for the submission for our project – 1001 Places to Remember. Let us go through the content and will make an announcement soon for the posts which will be winning the rewards as well as qualify for the publication.
Stay tuned and Steem on!
@archisteem and team
Such a beautiful place, and your photography ability make it looks so perfect.
Thank you! That is a lovely compliment!
Beautiful @delishtreats! We have no lakes in South Africa. Had to go back to those pics a couple of times...
Found your post on #steemitbloggers
Really? I didn't know that! But you have the sea :)
Thank you for stopping by!
Congratulations @delishtreats! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPLooks like an awesome place to visit!
Lucerne another beautiful city, thanks taking us on your visit @delishtreats
#steemitbloggers
Thank you for stopping by Joan! I'm glad you enjoyed the tour!
Ah! Luzerne! 😉 lived there for a while when I was a child. Visited it again 20 years ago. Still LOVE it!!!.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures, and bringing me back these wonderful memories!
Posted using Partiko iOS
I've been living in Switzerland for almost 8 years and I've been there just a couple of time! BUT it is a lovely city and I should visit it more often!
Thank you for stopping by and for your support! I'm glad that my post brought you some wonderful memories :)
It sure did! ;-)
Where in Switzerland do you live? I lived there in many places, Brunne, Sankt Moritz, Maloja,...
I used to live in Schaffhausen for 5 years and then we moved to Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Do you know the place? There is Rheinfall (the biggest waterfall in Europe) just 10 minutes walk from my apartment..
No, I don’t know the place... But that must be an amazing place to live! And with that waterfall so close... wow!!!
Yes, it is a lovely place to live :) There are too many tourists in summer months but well, this is what you get when you live in such a beautiful place :)
There's always a trade off! ;-)
I'm lucky to live in a very rural piece of the country, where it's beautiful, quiet, and still undiscovered by tourists ;-)
But it is sometimes too quiet :-)
Hi @delishtreats!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 2.520 which ranks you at #15618 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 127 places in the last three days (old rank 15745).
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 516 contributions, your post is ranked at #147.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
Looks very nice 🙂 I have never visited Lucerne. Beautiful pics!
You should come over! It's an amazing place to see! Thank you for stopping by!
hi there @delishtreats, i know lucerne is great we were there before and its nice peaceful and old but well kept. Loved that you bring many pictres to the blog. Have a great weekend.
greetz from holland
Thank you for stopping by! There are so many Dutch people here!!! We have to organize a meet up! I'm not Dutch but my husband is and we are in the Netherlands almost every month for a weekend or so..
Have you visited different sites in Switzerland or only Lucerne?
Have a great weekend too!
We love to meet up...we want to go skiing in dec at christmas or week 1 of 2019 and we travel trough switzerland When going to Italy in the summer !
I think that I will be in Slovakia during those weeks in winter.. spending time with my family.. BUT if you go through Switzerland to Italy, let me know!! I'd love to meet up with you!
Yo! These pictures are like something out of a fairy tale! I especially like the Lion Monument. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad that you like the photos! But it's not difficult to take nice photos in such a beautiful city! :)
I hear ya! Much like Iceland and New Zealand!
What a great history lesson. I don't want to sound naive, but that bridge looks so much like the one that the headless horseman rides through. Thank you for sharing your images and adventures.
I don't know about that bridge but will check it out as now I'm curious!
Thank you for stopping by!
Switzerland is indeed a beautiful country!
Stunning photos as well.
Safe travels @delishtreats!
I love it here and I feel blessed that I call Switzerland my temporary home!
Thank you for stopping by!
Stunning! What an amazing place to visit! Thank you for sharing your experience and for the lovely photos! I'm adding this to my travel list :)
I'm glad that you liked it! You should definitely come! It is an amazing place to visit!
Thank you for stopping by!
Wow, I think i've found a new place I want to visit in Switzerland! The lion monument is so cool too.
Hello @delishtreats, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
Thank you for your support!
breath-takingly beautiful. I'd love to spend a Spring there painting!
I'm sure you would make some beautiful paintings! I wish you would be able to come over! Thank you for stopping by!
ha! there is no way man.."It's 34.5 meters high and its circumference is 38 meters." that's impossible. wow everything is freaking old over there, built in the 1400"s or 300 years before our country was even founded? dang.
But everywhere you look everything is absolutely pristine and perfectly maintained. I love those old churches and cathedrals! I just have to see some of these things someday that's all there is too it.
Any castle visits coming up?
I was surprised too! But it is what it is! :) You see? That's what I was talking about when I told you that I like historical cities.
Yes, a great care is taken of the historical sites and touristy places. I told you so many times to come over. You are welcome here!
You will have to wait like all others for this information :)
Thank you for your comment jonboy!
what the?? yeah but I don't wanna wait! do I have to?
I never knew that Europe held such wonderful places to see! I haven't even gotten to see what I want to see here yet! lol
You do have to wait cowboy! No choice :)
I was telling you that Europe is beautiful but you wouldn't listen. So I have to convince you with photos, lol
hey I take exception to your perception that I don't listen! lol.
but I still want you to prove it to me with photos because they are so gorgeous! You must have a good camera. like the best camera.
So your startegy for this week is to do a record number of comments so that you can take the weekend off? Boy that's going to feel good! To take the weekend off I mean.
I'm at 460 in sp now so in a couple of months I'll hit 500. I know that has nothing to do with anything but I just wanted to throw that out there! lol.
ok, Jack is staring at me, he's ready to go outside. we just heard a coyote, they've been howling, barking and yelping all night. In fact it's very unusual but today they started even before the sun went down and just now Jack and I heard one right close to the house, I've never even heard one that close before, like maybe 100 feet.
definitely have to take my gun with me tonight, that's where we're going now. talk later.
Beautiful. I love the painted facades.