Swiss heritage sites open their doors

The Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch site provides an outstanding example of the formation of the High Alps, including the most glaciated part of the mountain range and the largest glacier in Eurasia.

(Keystone)

The Aletsch Glacier is the longest in the Alps.

(Reuters)

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle watchmaking towns. Their plaing and buildings reflect watchmakers’ need of rational organization.

(Keystone)

Plaed in the early 19th century, after extensive fires, the towns owed their existence to this single industry.

(Reuters)

The pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain of Monte San Giorgio beside Lake Lugano is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period (245–230 million years ago).

(Keystone)

Diverse marine life flourished within this lagoon, including reptiles, fish, bivalves, ammonites, echinoderms and crustaceans.

(Keystone)

Founded as a monastery by Charlemagne in the 8th century and later converted into a convent, the Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair complex exhibits many architectural styles as well as artistic treasures from more than 12 centuries.

(Keystone)

The conventual church houses the most important cycle of frescoes of the Carolingian era conserved in situ.

(Keystone)

The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona in the north-easte part of the country covers a mountainous area of 32,850 ha which features seven peaks that rise above 3,000 m.

(Keystone)

The area displays an exceptional example of mountain building through continental collision and features.

(Keystone)

Founded in the 12th century on a hill site surrounded by the Aare River, Be developed over the centuries in line with a an exceptionally coherent plaing concept.

(Keystone)

The buildings in the Old City, dating from a variety of periods, include 15th-century arcades and 16th-century fountains. Most of the medieval town was restored in the 18th century but it has retained its original character.

(Keystone)

The Bellinzona site consists of a group of fortifications grouped around the castle of Castelgrande, which stands on a rocky peak looking out over the entire Ticino valley.

(Keystone)

Ruing from the castle, a series of fortified walls protect the ancient town and block the passage through the valley.

(Keystone)

This serial property of 111 small individual sites encompasses the remains of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands.

(Amt für Städtebau/Unterwasserarchäologie Zurich)

Excavation at Muntelier / Baie de Montilier in canton Fribourg.

(Service archéologique de l’Etat de Fribourg)

The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces stretch for about 30 km along the south-facing northe shores of Lake Geneva.

(Reuters)

Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area.

(Reuters)

Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Beina Landscapes, brings together two historic railway lines that cross the Swiss Alps through two passes.

(Keystone)

It features an impressive set of structures including 42 tuels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges.

(Keystone)

The Convent of St Gallen, a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery, was, from the 8th century to its secularization in 1805, one of the most important in Europe.

(swiss image)

Its library is one of the richest and oldest in the world and contains precious manuscripts such as the earliest-known architectural plan drawn on parchment.

(AFP)

Seventeen buildings in seven countries of Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeaeret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, are together a candidate for UNESCO recognition. Pictured is the modest house he built for his parents on the Lake Geneva shore.

(AFP)