St. Gallen travel guide

Top 10 sights in St. Gallen

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   Abbey of Saint Gall

   A Benedictine abbey founded in 747 on the hermitage of the Irish monk Gall, dissolved in 1805, whose library holds about 2,100 medieval manuscripts — among them the ninth-century plan of an ideal monastery, the earliest architectural drawing to survive from the Middle Ages. The rococo library hall and the abbey precinct are a World Heritage site.

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   Mogelsberg

   A former municipality in the Neckertal in the Toggenburg, of scattered timber farmhouses on the hillsides. It is known for a hotel that puts guests to sleep in cabins built up in the trees.

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   3© JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0

   St. Gallen Cathedral

   The former abbey church, rebuilt between 1755 and 1766 and among the last great baroque churches in Europe, its rotunda set between twin east towers. It became a cathedral in 1847, and the abbey library beside it falls under the same UNESCO listing.

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   4© Paebi · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Wildkirchli

   Three linked caves at about 1,480 metres in the Alpstein massif of Appenzell Innerrhoden, where Neanderthal tools of some 40,000 years ago were found in 1904 — the highest Palaeolithic site known in Europe at the time. A hermitage chapel and a mountain inn stand on the ledge beside them.

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5. 

   5© Patrick Nouhailler's… · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Wasserauen

   A hamlet at the end of the Appenzell railway, in a valley closed by limestone walls. It is the starting point for the Seealpsee and for the cable car up to Ebenalp, from where the cliff inn at Äscher is a short walk.

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   6© No machine-readable author provided. Kjetil r assumed (based on copyright claims · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Henry Dunant Museum

   A museum in the Appenzell village of Heiden, in the nursing home where Henry Dunant lived from 1892 until his death in 1910. The founder of the Red Cross received the first Nobel Peace Prize here in 1901, after years of poverty and obscurity.

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7. 

   7© Martin Sauter · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Wartegg castle and park

   A castle of 1557 above Rorschach with a view over Lake Constance, later the refuge of Zita, the last empress of Austria, who lived here in the 1930s. An English park of old rhododendrons surrounds it, and the house is now a hotel.

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   8© Schofför · CC BY-SA 2.5 ch

   Appenzell Castle

   A castle in Appenzell, one of the few sixteenth-century stone buildings in the town, used as the seat of local administration and justice. It now holds the district museum.

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   9© Roland Zumbuehl · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Grimmenstein monastery

   A convent of Franciscan Third Order sisters at Walzenhausen in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, on a slope above the Rhine valley. It has been an enclosed community for centuries and is not generally open.

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10. 

    10© Kent Wang · CC BY 4.0

    Wonnenstein Monastery with convent

    A convent of Franciscan Third Order sisters near Teufen in Appenzell, founded in the seventeenth century and known as Mary's Rose Garden. It sits low on the hillside and remains an enclosed community.

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1. 

   1© de:Benutzer:Breeze · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Säntis transmitter

   A 123.5-metre transmitting tower on the summit of the Säntis at 2,502 metres, operated by Swisscom, and the highest transmitter site in Switzerland. Its exposed position makes it one of the most lightning-struck structures in Europe and it is used for lightning research.

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   2© Roland Zumbuehl · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Hagenwil Castle

   A moated castle at Amriswil in Thurgau, first recorded in 1264 and a Swiss heritage site of national significance. It is still lived in, with a restaurant in the outbuildings and a drawbridge over the water.

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   3© ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Zsolt, Somorjai / Com_FC15-9000-17 · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Botanical Garden St. Gallen

   A botanical garden at Stephanshornstrasse in the Neudorf district of St Gallen, with alpine rock gardens outside and tropical houses under glass. It is run by the city and lies beside the university district.

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   4© Lokolia · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Clanx Castle Ruin

   A ruined castle in the Appenzell district, built about 1250 by the abbot of St Gallen and destroyed by the Appenzellers in 1402 during their revolt against the abbey. Wall fragments stand on a rock above the Sitter.

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   5© Roland Zumbuehl · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Arbon Castle

   A castle at Arbon on Lake Constance, built on the site of a Roman fort and now the town history museum. The Roman name Arbor Felix survives in the town's own; the castle keep dates from the thirteenth century.

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   6© Schofför · CC BY-SA 2.5 ch

   Rosenburg

   A ruined castle west of Herisau in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, also called Ramsenburg, and a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Only fragments of wall stand on the wooded spur.

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   Old Ramschwag castle ruin

   The ruins of a castle east of Häggenschwil in the canton of St Gallen, built by the Ramschwag family. Only the base of the tower survives on the ridge above the Sitter.

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8. 

   8© Schofför · CC BY-SA 2.5 ch

   Wichenstein Castle

   A cave castle at Oberriet in the canton of St Gallen, built into an overhang in the rock face above the Rhine valley — a construction type found in only a handful of places in Europe. Wall sections remain against the cliff.

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   Rosenberg Castle Ruins

   A ruined castle north of Herisau in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, near the hamlets of Burghalden and Schachen. Earthworks and wall fragments on the hill indicate its size.

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    10© Ikiwaner · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Schloss Mammertshofen

    A moated castle at Roggwil in Thurgau, a Swiss heritage site of national significance, whose thirteenth-century stone keep carries a projecting timber upper storey — one of the few medieval wooden superstructures left in Switzerland.

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