St. Gallen

St. Gallen gets its name from the Abbey of St. Gall. Since the 700s the Abbey copied manuscripts to fill its library, making it one of the most important medieval libraries in Europe. While visiting the Abbey one must see the interior of the Cathedral, a Baroque masterpiece, the Plan of St Gall, an idealized plan of a monastic compound and the only surviving architectural drawing from the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the 13th century, and the library itself. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside any of these areas, so you will have to look them up yourself.

In the 13th century, a bourgeoisie element emerged in the town of St. Gallen in the form of rich cloth-weaving guilds. In the 1400s the Appenzell estates and the town rebelled against the Abbey and became part of the Swiss Confederacy. The Abbey and its holdings also became part of the Confederacy to protect themselves from losing more land. The Abbey co-existed with the town through the Protestant reformation, but was finally secularized in the Napoleonic era. The Protestant Church of St. Lawrence, which became Protestant in the 16th century, is a stones throw away from the Abbey.

St. Gallen is named after Saint Gall.

Saint Gall was born in Ireland in the 6th century. The Abbey and city are said to be built on the site of his hermitage.

Legend has it a bear tried to attack Saint Gall, but his presence so awed the bear that it brought him firewood and became his lifelong companion.

The hero of the city of St. Gallen is Vadian, who in the 16th century helped convert the city to Protestantism and preserved the city's independence from the Abbey.

The city's other best feature is oriel windows. And possibly dinner at Zum Goldenen Schafli.

While we were in St. Gallen, Switzerland won its first UEFA European Football Championship knockout match against the reigning World Cup Champion, France. Needless to say, drinks were on the house.