Grossmunster
Romanesque twin-towered church where Zwingli launched the Swiss Reformation; tower climb of 187 steps.
The Grossmunster stands above the right bank of the Limmat, its pair of towers among the best-known outlines in Zurich. Building began around 1100 on a site that legend links to Charlemagne, who is said to have founded a church over the graves of the city's patron saints Felix and Regula. The Romanesque structure was largely complete by about 1220. The distinctive neo-Gothic tops of the towers were added after a fire in 1763.
From 1519 Huldrych Zwingli preached here, and the sermons he gave from this pulpit set off the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. The interior is correspondingly plain, though it holds a Romanesque crypt with a seated figure of Charlemagne, stained glass by Augusto Giacometti installed in 1933 and bronze doors by Otto Munch. Visitors can climb 187 steps inside the Karlsturm for a view across the old town, the lake and the Alps.
Highlights
- Twin towers with neo-Gothic caps added after the 1763 fire
- Zwingli preached here from 1519, starting the Swiss Reformation
- Romanesque crypt with the seated Charlemagne figure
- 187-step climb up the Karlsturm for city and lake views
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