Sacred places in Switzerland: temples, churches, shrines and mosques

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Catholicism · St. Gallen · 612 (thánh Gallus dựng am ẩn tu), thánh Otmar làm viện phụ đầu tiên khoảng năm 719Abbey of Saint GallStiftsbezirk St. Gallen, Fürstabtei St. Gallen, Kathedrale St. Gallen, Stiftskirche St. Gallus und Otmar, Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Abbey of St Gall

A Benedictine abbey precinct that grew from the hermitage established in 612 by the Irish monk Saint Gallus, serving from the 8th to the 11th century as one of the leading cultural centers of Europe. Its Baroque church built from 1755 to 1766 is now the cathedral, its abbey library holds more than 2,100 manuscripts and the 9th-century Plan of St. Gall, and the entire precinct became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983)Klosterhof, 9000 St. Gallen (khu Stiftsbezirk, phố cổ St. Gallen)

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Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Protestantism · Canton of Zurich · Truyền thuyết do Hoàng đế Charlemagne sáng lập thế kỷ 8 tới thế kỷ 9; xây dựng đại thánh đường Romanesque từ khoảng năm 1100 tới năm 1220; cái nôi Cải cách Thụy Sĩ của Huldrych Zwingli từ năm 1519 và Heinrich Bullinger từ năm 1531; hoàn thiện hai đỉnh tháp đôi Neo-Gothic năm 1787; lắp đặt cửa sổ đá mã não của Sigmar Polke năm 2009Grossmunster, ZurichGrossmunster Zurich, Great Minster of Zurich, Mother Church of the Swiss German Reformation

The iconic twin-towered Romanesque church rising above the east bank of the Limmat River in Zurich's Old Town, built between 1100 and 1220 over the venerated graves of patron saints Felix and Regula, celebrated worldwide as the mother church of the Swiss Reformation where Huldrych Zwingli began his pastoral ministry in 1519, succeeded by Heinrich Bullinger.

Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance (Class A) and Mother Church of the Swiss ReformationGrossmunsterplatz (Zwingliplatz 4), Old Town (Altstadt, District 1), East Bank of the Limmat River, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland

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Photo: Jochen Teufel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Protestantism · Canton of Geneva · Khởi nguồn từ quần thể vương cung thánh đường Kitô giáo thế kỷ 4 dưới lòng đất; xây dựng nhà thờ chính tòa chuyển tiếp Romanesque - Gothic từ năm 1160 tới năm 1252; chuyển thành đền thờ Cải cách năm 1535 tới 1536 gắn với sự nghiệp giảng đạo của Jean Calvin (1536 tới 1564); xây mặt tiền Tân cổ điển năm 1752 tới 1756St. Pierre Cathedral, GenevaCathedrale Saint-Pierre de Geneve, Temple de Saint-Pierre, Mother Church of the Calvinist Reformation

The historic cathedral crowning the Old Town hill of Geneva, constructed between 1160 and 1252 in transitional Romanesque-Gothic style above fourth-century early Christian basilicas, world-renowned as the pulpit of Reformer John Calvin from 1536 to 1564 and the spiritual heart of global Reformed and Presbyterian Protestantism.

Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance (Class A), European Heritage Label Monument, and Spiritual Center of Global Reformed ProtestantismCour de Saint-Pierre, Old Town Hill (Vieille-Ville), 1204 Geneva, Switzerland

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Photo: Yann ( talk ), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Canton of Graubunden (Grisons) · Khởi dựng khoảng năm 775 dưới thời Hoàng đế Charlemagne (xác định qua niên đại vòng cây gỗ thông năm 775); vẽ bích họa Carolingian khoảng năm 800 và bích họa Romanesque cuối thế kỷ 12; chuyển thành đan viện nữ Biển Đức từ thế kỷ 12; cải tạo vòm nhà thờ Gothic năm 1492; ghi danh Di sản Thế giới UNESCO năm 1983Benedictine Convent of St. John at MustairClaustra Son Jon a Mustair, Kloster St. Johann in Mustair, Monastero di San Giovanni a Mustair

An ancient Benedictine abbey nestled in the Alpine Val Mustair valley of Canton Graubunden, founded around 775 AD during the reign of Emperor Charlemagne, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for preserving the world's largest and finest surviving cycle of early medieval Carolingian frescoes painted around 800 AD alongside twelfth-century Romanesque murals.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1983, Ref. 269) and Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance (Class A)Via Maistra 18, Val Mustair Valley, 7537 Mustair, Canton of Graubunden, Switzerland

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Photo: Francesco Bandarin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Canton of Schwyz · Khởi nguồn từ am ẩn tu của Thánh Meinrad năm 835 (tử đạo năm 861); thành lập đan viện Biển Đức năm 934 dưới thời Viện phụ Eberhard và huyền tích Chúa Kitô thánh hiến Nhà nguyện Ân Sủng ngày 14 tháng 9 năm 948; tái thiết quần thể kiệt tác Baroque vĩ đại từ năm 1704 tới năm 1735 theo thiết kế của Caspar Moosbrugger và anh em nhà AsamEinsiedeln AbbeyKloster Einsiedeln, Territorialabtei Maria Einsiedeln, Territorial Abbey of Our Lady of the Hermits at Einsiedeln

Switzerland's premier Marian pilgrimage shrine and a Benedictine territorial abbey directly subject to the Holy See in Canton Schwyz, tracing its origins to the forest hermitage of Saint Meinrad in 835 and the monastic foundation of 934, renowned for its monumental eighteenth-century Baroque abbey church designed by Caspar Moosbrugger and the Chapel of Grace housing the fifteenth-century Black Madonna.

Benedictine Territorial Abbey Directly Subject to the Holy See, National Marian Shrine of Switzerland, and Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance (Class A)Klosterplatz, 8840 Einsiedeln, Canton of Schwyz, Central Switzerland

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Photo: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

IIHelp Us Build This

This library is open and free, and it records its own progress in public. Three things you can help with today:

Name a place we missedA founding temple, a church, a mosque, a shrine the table above does not have. Send the name, the province, and one line on why it belongs.
Send a photograph with an open licenceNothing is published without both the photographer and the licence. Your own photograph with your permission, or an openly licensed one, are both welcome.
Report an errorA wrong date, a wrong original name, a wrong lineage, a wrong address. A library that is wrong once is not trusted again, so corrections are very welcome.

Write to thayungkhiem@gmail.com

IIILog

24/10/2026Completed three major initiatives on the same day: (1) Verified primary international sources and published the remaining 199 full English editions across 192 countries and territories, officially completing Stage D with 100% bilingual Vietnamese and English coverage across the entire library. (2) Visually verified and published 35 openly licensed Wikimedia Commons photographs for 22 sites in Vietnam and 13 international sanctuaries. (3) Authored 100 new bilingual sacred place monographs with real photographs for Stage C across 25 countries and territories (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Canada and Mexico), expanding each from 1 to 5 places and bringing the library to 761 sacred places.
29/09/2026Officially opened the doors of Hall of Myriad Paths to readers worldwide as a living spiritual library that grows every day. On the same day, authored 60 new Stage A sacred place monographs across 60 countries in the Nordic and Baltic regions, the Balkans, the Gulf, Central Asia, European microstates, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean (including Roskilde Cathedral, Hallgrímskirkja, the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Ostrog Monastery, Malé Friday Mosque, Sulayman-Too, Old Orhei, the Temple in the Sea and Ambohimanga), while verifying and publishing 59 openly licensed photographs for the second and third batches.
28/09/2026In the Main Hall, transformed 174 sacred symbols of faiths and branches into raised 3D forms so visitors can select their own tradition before making an offering, alongside a public record of milestones. In the Places section, authored 30 new Stage A monographs across 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (including St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Rila Monastery, Svetitskhoveli, Etchmiadzin, al-Qarawiyyin, the Great Mosque of Djenné, Namugongo and the Basilica of Luján).

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?Quick Questions

Why are there no opening hours or ticket prices

Because they change constantly. A library that is wrong once about a practical detail loses its standing on everything else. Check with the place itself before you travel.

Where do the images come from

From Wikimedia Commons under open licences, each credited to its photographer, or photographed by UK MASTER ACADEMY. No image is published without both its author and its licence.

How were these places chosen

Four tests: it is officially listed as a heritage site, it belongs to a tradition this library covers, its site and orientation can be read in feng shui terms, and an openly licensed photograph exists.

Why is my country still grey

The library opens one country at a time, beginning with the countries that have the most readers, and within each country with its most significant places. A grey country is simply one whose turn has not come. Suggestions are welcome through the page of Master Ưng Khiêm.

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