St. Gallen is the capital city of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 160,000 inhabitants) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on services for its economic base. he city has good transport links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany and Austria. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps.
There are 28 sites in St. Gallen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. There are four religious buildings in St. Gallen that are on the inventory. Of course, the Abbey of St. Gallen is on the list. Additionally, the former Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the Reformed Church of St. Laurenzenkirche and the Catholic parish church of St. Maria Neudorf are also part of the inventory.
PLACE TO VISIT
The St. Gallen Stiftsbibliothek - in the Abbey of St. Gallen is St. Gallen's most famous tourist attraction. The Stiftsbibliothek contains many books dating back from the early Medieval times, and the library itself is a stunning piece of baroque architecture.
Peter und Paul Wildlife park - On top of the northern hill at Rotmonten .
Drei Weieren - The Drei Weieren are a water park by day and a gatheringplace of the youth by night. This results in many complaints about noise, drug abuse and vandalism by people who live in the vicinity. Locals jokingly call the three basins "Lakes with the most THC in the country". The youth who spends their time there claim that the Drei Weieren are a place where they can spend their time in a consume-free environment.
Historical and ethnographical museum - collections of regional early history, city history, folk art, cultural history as well ethnographical collections from all over the world.
Art museum - painting and sculptures from the 19th and 20th century
St. Gallen art gallery - national and international modern art.
Natural history museum
Museum in the storehouse - Swiss native art and art brut.
Textile museum - historical laces, embroidery and cloth.
Lapidarium of the abbey - building blocks from 8th to 17th century.
Beer bottle museum - located at the Schützengarten brewery—the oldest brewery in Switzerland.
The symphony orchestra St. Gallen - performs besides its duty at the city theater numerous symphony concerts in the city concert hall.
Catholic church St. Martin - in the Bruggen district; the concrete church built in 1936 was at that time highly modern.
Stadtlounge - a pedestrianised area in the central city designed to represent a loungeroom, but in the street. German only, pictures are universal though. The Stadtlounge was designed by Pippilotti Rist.
Synagogue St.Gallen - Built by the architects Chiodera and Tschudy, it is only synagogue in the Lake Constance region that is preserved in its original state.
Public bath - the oldest public bath in Switzerland dating from 1908.
Tröckneturm Schönenwegen - the tower was built 1828 and was used to hang up freshly colored cloth panels for drying.
The area between the Banhof and Old Town is Marktplatz the main street of a collection of pedestrian-only streets filled with shops. Within the area, there are numerous shoe stores, tea shops, coffee houses, perfumeries, and mainstream clothes stores like H&M.
HOW TO REACH
By plane - Zurich International Airport is the closest international airport to St. Gallen. Direct trains between St. Gallen and the airport run twice an hour with a travel time of exactly one hour. Alternative airports are the St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport (with connections to Vienna) and the Bodensee-Airport Friedrichshafen.
By train - St. Gallen is a major hub for northeastern Switzerland. Trains between St. Gallen and Zurich depart twice an hour with a travel time of 1h10min. The St. Gallen train station is 500m from the old town and is surrounded my numerous hotels, restaurants, and shops. If you want to get quickly to Munich, 3 times a day the Eurocity from Zurich stops at Saint Gallen. The main train station also acts as terminus for a number of local train lines running to Appenzell and Trogen.
By Bus - Outside the main train station is a central hub for bus and Postbuses to get around St.Gallen and to surrounding smaller villages.
