St. Gallen has a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing, but the most beautiful and the most important landmark of the city is The Abbey of St. Gall which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It's a large complex with many buildings, and you can visit a few of them. We visited the archives, the library, the vaulted cellars, and the cathedral. There is so much that I want to show you today! The place is truly impressive and I hope that you will enjoy it.
Let's walk around first!
The cathedral towers above the entire complex. It's a masterpiece that you can't miss when you're in St. Gallen. It reminds me a bit of the cathedral in Rheinau that I showed you recently.
The complex is very well maintained with a large grass covered courtyard. It looks a bit too perfect if you ask me. There was not even a small piece of paper on the ground (at least where I walked).
People were strolling around and enjoying the sunny day...
We visited St. Gallen a few years ago, and I remember that there were many people sitting on the grass. This time there was nobody as it was a bit cold, but I was glad because I could take some photos 😊
A large part of the complex belongs to the archives which store many important documents. The oldest document dates back to the 8th century! There are many treasures hidden behind those walls.
Let's see what is open to public from the archives...
But the views first!
The exhibition is situated in a few rooms, and you can see various items belonging to the archives as well as watch two short movies discussing the history of the archives and the abbey.
These boxes were used to transport the documents.
When the archives were founded in the 8th century, the documents were simply stored there. One of the most important document was the deed that gifted the monastery to the monks. However, one day they had to prove to the crown that they were the owners and they couldn't find the deed! They searched through everything, and luckily in the end they found it, but they also learned a lesson from this experience. It was not enough to store the documents, but they needed to copy them. And this is when the monks started to make handwritten copies of all documents that were brought to the archives.
The documents were written on parchment which was made out of animal skins! I always thought that parchment was made out of trees.
We also saw how the colours were created. Some of them were made out of minerals while others were made from berries or other fruits.
I have enjoyed this interactive table. It shows the region of St. Gallen and its split between various municipalities in the past. There was a projector, so the table was changing during the story.
We saw a short movie about the history of the Abbey, and how it was built. The movie followed the life of a monk who was sent to the monastery as a child and spent his entire life there.
After the movie, we could see the original drawing of a monastery complex that was used as an example to built the monastery in St. Gallen. We had 20 seconds to admire it and then it was closed to protect it from too much light. The room was completely dark except of a bit of light from the screen.
After the archives we went to the library...
The first surprise was that we had to put those gigantic slippers on. They were so slippery! I couldn't walk, so I was simply sliding from one side to another. I noticed that I was not the only one 😊
It was impossible to find two slippers that would look normal, so I settled for these two...
Another surprise was waiting for us behind those doors...
Look at it! I couldn't hide my excitement when I entered the room. There was so much more to see that just the bookshelf with treasured books.
Only the ceiling itself would deserve a separate post 😊
The library as we see it today was founded at the beginning of the 18th century. There was another library before, but it was damaged during a fire.
The library is dark to protect the books from the light exposure, but the lighting there is done in a genius way because it gives so much warmth that it makes you feel good.
This globe has a long story...
It was created in the 16th century by a German geographer. After his death it was sold to the Abbey to pay off the debts. The Abbey displayed it in the library, but in 1712 it was seized by the city of Zurich during the war. After the war, Zurich kept some items from St. Gallen including this globe, and after many years of cultural property dispute it was finally returned where it belongs less than 20 years ago.
We like to learn some interesting facts, so we always purchase an audio guide for our tours, but this library has quite a few signs, so you can learn from them too.
The upper floor is closed for public which is a pity as the view from above must be amazing.
I was surprised to see Egyptian coffins and a mummy in St. Gallen, then I learned that they were a gift to an influential politician 200 years ago. He gave them to the library on the loan, but they both them from him shortly before his death.
That looks more like a ceiling in a Royal palace!
It wouldn't be a visit of a library without showing you some books too 😊
There was another globe, just much smaller in size. I'm not sure from which century it is, but looking at how it's split it can't be very recent. I liked the cute details on this one, such as the red apples holding it. Well, probably those aren't apples, but they look like ones to me.
We are not at the end yet!
Another part of our tour are the vaulted cellars. It was a bit frustrating to get there as it's only two floors down from the library, but you can't take the stairs and have to wait for the lift. It took ages!
But it was worth it! It's not everyday that you see artifacts 1400 years old!
There was no information about these decorations, but I assume that they were on top of pillars that were destroyed, and after the renovation they were replaced and since they have lot of historical value they were placed in the vaults.
The most important items is the Evangelium Longum protected by the glass. The binding was created in the 9th century.
There were a few models of how the monastery was built over the centuries. This model shows one of the oldest periods.
And the cathedral...
There are more decorations stored here, but these are only from the cathedral.
Let's visit the last part of our tour which is the cathedral!
The Cathedral of St. Gallen as we see it today was built in the 18th century in the place where the first religious building was built in St. Gallen in the year 612. Cathedral
I feel like I wasn't able to capture the size of the cathedral properly. Imagine that 10 people sit on the benches on each size, and it will be easier for you to picture how wide it is. And it is only the middle part of the cathedral. There are aisles on both sides.
For me, the interior of the cathedral is unusual. I can't remember if I have ever seen a church with green being the prevalent colour. There is not so much decoration in the part that is accessible except of the paintings and that beautiful ceiling.
I was not able to come closer to the part for priests, but you can see the difference. There are many altars and lots of gold.
Those two parts are divided by decorated fence. And of course it's green and gold 😊
We sat down for a moment and I was sitting right below this painting. So pretty!
The abbey of St. Gallen is a beautiful place full of history and beauty, and I'm sure that everyone would enjoy it there, so make sure to visit it when you happen to be around.
See you next time...
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Great reportage. Gorgeous interiors!
That place looks incredible!