Beautiful Baroque Solothurn - A City Steeped in Switzerland's History

Have you ever heard of Solothurn?  I hadn’t either, so when I was reading the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide (our favorite guidebook!) for Switzerland and learned that Solothurn is renowned as one of the most beautiful Baroque cities in Switzerland, I had to add it our itinerary and the lovely town definitely lives up to its reputation.

above photo credit: "Besenval stursen solothurn" by Ch-info.ch -
Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

We arrived on a market day and the old Baroque historic district was lively and filled with colorful market stalls.  Towering over the busy Marktplatz (Market Square) is the Zytglogge (clock tower).  It is Solothurn’s oldest surviving building.  The lower part dates from the 12th century and its upper part from the 15th century.  The astronomical clock was made in 1545 and a procession of mechanical figures including a Knight, Death and the King of Jesters parade when the clock strikes the hour.

Solothurn was founded by the Celts and later became the second-largest Roman town north of the Alps after Trier. The town was fortified many times during its history.  The oldest walls surrounded a Roman camp and a later ring of walls, gates and towers were added in the Middle Ages. In the 16th century, the defenses were modernized and two additional gates and three towers were constructed. 

Below: Basel Gate

During the Early Middle Ages, Solothurn was part of the Kingdom of Lotharingia (Lorraine).  After 1033, it became part of the Holy Roman Empire under the Kingdom of Burgundy, and Emperor Conrad II held court at Solothurn.  He crowned his son, Henry III, King of Burgundy there.

In 1127, Solothurn was acquired by the powerful dukes of Zähringen. After the extinction of the Zähringer line in 1218 it finally became a free imperial city under the Holy Roman Emperor.

above photo credit: "Solothurn Stumpf" by Johannes Stumpf - Gemeiner loblicher Eydgnoſchafft Stetten Landen vnd Völckeren Chronik wirdiger thaaten beſchreybung […]. 2 Bde. Zürich: Christoph Froschauer 1548. Scan by sidonius 18:10, 3 March 2007 (UTC).
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

"Herrliberger Solothurn" by Emanuel Büchel - Hermann Spiess-Schaad: David Herrliberger. Zürcher Kupferstecher und Verleger 1697–1777.
Verlag Hans Rohr: Zürich 1983.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

By 1481, the town had obtained full membership in the Swiss Confederation and from 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassador to Switzerland. It was during this period that the city’s finest architecture was built and these buildings line the streets today.  

Solothurn’s Rathaus (town hall) is built in the ornate Mannerist style, but the building which was begun in 1476 was constructed in many successive stages over the centuries.  The narrow façade you see today, with onion domes capping each side was completed in 1711.

The Altes Zeughaus which is a large four-story Baroque building dating from 1609-14 and is the former City Arsenal, has a pulley system in a large arched window that was originally used to lift heavy arms from the ground level to the upper floors. The Zeughaus now houses a museum of interesting historic military items including uniforms worn by the guards of the French Kings.  Interestingly, many of the guards came from Solothurn.

above photo source

As usual, we gravitated to the magnificent cathedral of Solothurn. Not too far from the market square, St. Ursen Kathedrale is set high on a hill and approached by wide steps and flanked by ornate fountains.  It is a monumental Neo-classical building and the façade shows influence from the Italian Baroque.  Corinthian columns frame a frieze portraying the city’s patron saints Ursus and Victory who were martyred in Solothurn by the Romans, for refusing to worship Emperor Maximum. 

St. Ursus of Solothurn was venerated in the city by the 5th century and the first church on the site was built in the Early Middle Ages. A Romanesque church might have existed, but there is no written or archeological evidence to support or refute it. The first documented record of a Gothic church comes from 1294.  By the 18th century the Gothic church was in a poor condition, and in 1762 a tower collapsed forcing the city to begin planning to replace the building.

From 1762 to 1773, Gaetano Matteo Pisoni from the Ticino region, and later his nephew, Paolo Antonio Pisoni, designed and built the new cathedral.  It is this cathedral you see today. 

The interior of the cathedral is white, allowing for the elaborate stucco moldings, sculptural space and delicate decorative gold-leaf scrollwork on the decorative paintings and altars to capture your attention.  Such a quiet totally white space is rare in our experience of Roman Catholic churches in Europe and we enjoyed the calm serene space.

The main organ and choir organ were ordered in 1763 from the organ builder Victor Ferdinand Bosshard from Baar. They were delivered in 1772.

Switzerland is filled with ancient towns that tell the long historic tale of this amazing country. Solothurn is one of those towns and well worth exploring when you are on your journey through the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica).  Especially on Market Day!