St. Gallen is nestled between two ranges of rolling hills in the north eastern plateau of Switzerland. Switzerland is composed of 26 sovereign cantons and St. Gallen is actually the capital of the canton which is also named St.Gallen. It is surrounded on the north by Germany, on the south by Italy, on the east by Austria and on the west by France. Even though this small city only spans 15.22 square miles it has one of the richest and influential histories in all of Europe.

Back in the year 610 CE Columbanus set out on a religious expedition from Ireland with twelve other monks from Ireland and one of those men was Saint Gall. Saint Gall (also known as St. Gallen or St. Gallus) is believed to have lived from the year 550 CE to 650 CE, however the exact year of death is unknown. In 612 CE, while they were traveling up the Rhine River to Italy, Saint Gallen fell ill and had to stay behind in Brebenz. It was there that he built a hermitage by Steinach River and lived in seclusion until his death.

After his death all his relics and manuscripts were appointed to Othmar to oversee and in 719 CE the Carolingian style Abbey of St. Gall was erected. The church was under Benedictine rule from 747 CE, which included the study of all books, so in the 9th century a larger church was built and included a massive library.

The 9th century saw a lot of changes surrounding the Abbey. It became a very important source of culture and education for much of Europe (due to the collection of books and manuscripts) and this brought strife over control and religious freedom. To protect the Abbey in 954 a wall was constructed around the Abbey and the town continued to grow around the wall.

Many stories were told of the life of Saint Gallen and the town made embroidered tapestries to honor him depicting these scenes. Tapestries become sought after world-wide and brought economic prosperity to the town. The Abbey of Saint Gallen also became one of the major Benedictine abbeys in Europe until the late 13th century, later becaming an independent principality. In the 15th century the city of St.Gallen and the Abbey of Saint Gallen became associated places of the Swiss Confederation and in 1803 the entire canton of St.Gallen became an equal member of the Swiss Confederation.

It was not until the 20th century that change began again in St.Gallen. The population grew to over 70,000 thousand residents, a single party no longer dominated the government (there are now four parties with posts) and in 1983 the Abbey Of St. Gallen became a UNESCO world heritage site. They are also the only country to have a \”Stadtlounge\”, a \”city lounge\” styled after a lounge room including red carpets but outside in the town center.

But some things have never changed. In between Appenzellerland and Lake Constance lays an old town where the locals still speak \”St.Gallen\”, a dialect of both High and Swiss German. The original roads are still traffic-free and the original burgher homes with their oriel windows are still standing from the 16th century. The library at the Abbey of St.Gallen is still the home to over 160,000 thousand medieval books, many of which are handwritten and over 1,000 years old. Every year on the 16th of October the city has a feast in the honor of their patron saint, Saint Gallen.

Nathan Martyn is webmaster for Gallus Light, introducing a world premier product, Rotating Flame Candle Holder, which naturally rotates the flame at the rate of a human rest heartbeat.

Nathan Martyn is webmaster for Gallus Light (http://www.galluslight.com), introducing a world premier product, The Rotating Flame Candle Holder, which naturally rotates the flame at the rate of a human rest heartbeat.

Author Bio: Nathan Martyn is webmaster for Gallus Light, introducing a world premier product, Rotating Flame Candle Holder, which naturally rotates the flame at the rate of a human rest heartbeat.

Category: Travel
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