- Address: Klosterhof 6B, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Phone: +41 71 224 05 50
- The official site of the monastery and the library: http://www.stibi.ch
- Foundation date: 613 y.
- Founder: Monk St. Gall
- Entrance fee: adult - 12 francs, students and pensioners - 10 francs, children - free of charge
The monastery of St. Gall, or St. Gallen Abbey is a monastery of the Order of Benedictines in the Swiss city of St. Gallen , a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered one of the most outstanding surviving monasteries of the Carolingian era. As the legend says, in 612 the Irish missionary Saint Gul founded the monastery in honor of the miraculously ended meeting with the bear: the saint managed to "persuade" the animal not to attack. Rather, initially he built his cell and a small chapel here, and the monastery appeared later. For over a thousand years, the monastery was one of the most influential in Europe.
Monastery today
First of all, it attracts the cathedral, built in the Baroque style at the end of the XVIII century on the site of an old church built in the XIV century. Its eastern facade is crowned by two towers, whose domes are made in the form of bulbs. The height of the towers is more than 70 meters, they are gracefully decorated and decorated with a clock. The front pediment of the cathedral is decorated with a fresco depicting the ascension of the Virgin Mary, beneath it there are sculptures of the saints of Mauritius and Desideria. The north façade is adorned with statues of the apostles Peter and Paul and the saints, whose names are closely related to the history of the monastery - Gall, who founded it, and Othmar, who became his first abbot.
The cathedral strikes with its architecture and interior decoration: an abundance of gilding, stucco molding, paintings. The central nave and rotunda are made under the direction of the architect Peter Tumba, who also supervised the decoration of the monastery library. The choir project was designed by Johann Michael Weer, and the eastern facade by Josef Anton Feuchtmayer. The altar in Empire style was created by Josef Mosbrutter, and the painting of the dome was made by Christian Wenzinger. The wall murals belong to the brush of Yogan and Matias Gigley.
In addition to the cathedral, the round tower and the Karlovy Gate, which have survived from the times of the old monastery complex, as well as the New Palace, the Arsenal, the Children's Chapel of the Felix Kubli Project and the Galla Chapel, built in 1666, deserve attention. The monastic yard is surrounded on three sides by Baroque buildings, which house the school, the administration of the bishopric and the administration of the canton, the capital of which is the city of St. Gallen.
Next to the monastery is the Protestant Church of St. Lawrence, built in the Gothic style. Together, the church and the cathedral seem to symbolize the contradiction between the splendor and pretentiousness of Catholicism and the strict asceticism of Lutheranism.
Library
The library of the monastery of St. Gall is recognized as one of the most beautiful, and no doubt it is the oldest in the world - it dates back to the VIII century. It is listed as a World Heritage Site thanks to its architectural value and unique collection of books stored here and recognized as one of the most significant in Europe. Today, the library stores more than two thousand ancient manuscripts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries, including ancient Irish manuscripts, the Latin manuscript Gospel, ivory tablets made around the year 900, the manuscript of the Song of the Nibelungs, and several scrolls, whose age exceeds 2 700 years.
At the entrance visitors are given special slippers, because the inlaid wooden floor is also an art object. You should know that in the library's premises, photo and video shooting is strictly prohibited.
How to get to the monastery?
You can get to the city of St. Gallen by train from Zurich . The spiers of the cathedral will be visible from the station; you will need to cross the road (there is a travel agency) and go in a straight line, and then - to the left.
You can visit the monastery when there are no services in it. On weekdays it is open for visits from 9-00 to 18-00, on Saturday it stops working at 15-30. On Sundays you can get to the monastery from 9-00 to 19-00. The library also works daily, it opens at 10-00, closes at 17-00, and on Sundays - at 16-00. The "adult" ticket costs 12 Swiss francs, students and pensioners can visit the tourist attraction for 10 francs, children - free of charge.
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