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St. Gallen

St. Gallen, Switzerland
Towers of the Convent of St. Gall. Photo Creative Commons License Jochen Bihn.

St. Gallen is a city of about 75,000 in the Alpine foothills of northeastern Switzerland, on a main train line 53 miles east of Zürich. Situated in a valley at 2,165 feet above sea level, St. Gallen makes an excellent base for exploring Lake Constance (15-minutes' drive) and the Appenzell countryside.

The town's history begins with St. Gallus, a missionary monk from Ireland who built a hermitage here in 612. Before long, his little cell had developed into a great monastery and an important cultural center.

Today, St. Gallen is the capital of a canton (of the same name) and is said to be the embroidery and lace capital of Europe, but the main attraction is indisputedly the Convent of St. Gall, a Baroque abbey with a rich history and famed library, which has been designated a World Heritage Site.

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Sacred Sites & Religious Places

 Convent of St. Gall
This Benedictine monastery was founded at the remote hermitage of Gallus, an Irish monk, in 747. It is best known for its fine Baroque cathedral and magnificent library.



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