Zurich, Luzern, Bern and Geneva are Swiss cities. St. Moritz, Zermatt, Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald are primarily Alpine tourist towns. So, what does a small town look like? A day trip to Murten might show us.
Murten is a medieval city on a lake and was once site of a large battle. The Swiss Confederacy defeated Charles the Bold of Burgundy and ended his dreams of empire. He was headed to Bern, but got stopped at Murten on June 22, 1476 before he could get there. It still has a large chunk of the original city wall as well as the original city plan with a main street of shops and several churches.
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| As somewhat less cushy, but still new and nice, regional train carried us to Murten |
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| Murten arrival |
There is a nice self-guided walking tour through the town. It starts at the Castle.
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| Murten Castle |
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| It's a venue, these days... |
Murten still has a good chunk of it's city wall intact. Below it are people's gardens and part of it is the back wall of some residents.
The main street in town is like a mini-Bern with it's covered sidewalks and shops. There is a gate with a clock tower called Berntor (Bern tower?) at the other end from the castle.
German for street is Strasse. But, nearly all the streets in Bern and here in Murten are Gasse, which is German for alley. Can't imagine what they'd call a street!
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| A medieval street with modern angle-in parking! |
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| The school house just outside the gate. |
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| Berntor from the outside looking in. |
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| Some are outside a church |
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| Franciscan Church |
Some Murten street views.
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| Side street with out the arcades. |
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| German Church |
We climbed up the wall. The German Church shares a wall with the city wall, so it was out the door and up the steps.
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| On the way up. |
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| On the wall |
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| Catholic Church and surrounding area |
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| German Church as viewed from the wall. |
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| Looking south along the wall. |
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| From the wall looking east across the town to Lake Murten. |
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| Looking north along the wall to the German Church |
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| ...and from further south on the wall |
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| The view of the castle and lake from the wall |
One of our last stops in town was the Catholic Church
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| modern stained glass |
And, before we headed home...Lunch!
At an Italian restaurant with a Romanian waiter!
One last stroll through the town before heading back to Bern.
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| Tree hugger. |
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Now THIS is a mobility scooter!
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| Not cappuccinoworld. Not dripcoffeeworld. Espressoworld! |
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| Waiting for a train, Swiss-style! |
So, that's Murten. Tomorrow, back to Zurich.
