Lucerne is often called the most beautiful city of Switzerland. It is picturesquely located at the foot of the Alps, on one of the branches of Lake Lucerne and is famous for its medieval, wooden bridge and rich cultural offer.
Lucerne was founded as a settlement next to the Benedictine monastery in the eighth century in the place where the Reuss River flows into Lake Lucerne. Initially, it was a center of trade and craft, but from the 18th century it began to gain popularity as a holiday resort. There were here, among others Victor Hugo, Goethe or Einstein, and Queen Victoria used to say that it was one of the most beautiful places under the sun. A characteristic feature of the Old Town of Lucerne are the bridges over the Reuss estuary. The most famous of them, the wooden Monastery Bridge was built in 1333, joins the stone Water Tower and is replicated in almost all Swiss tourist folders and leaflets.
Lucerne is currently a dynamically developing cultural, market and conference center. The futuristic edifice of the Culture and Congress Center here stands out from the picturesque, Gothic-Baroque old town. Concerts, festivals and fairs take place here, with which the whole city lives. Many of them are also moved to the urban space, such as the classical music festival, the yodeling festival and the huge cheese-making festival combined with a market of traditional products.
