The City of Prosperity

At the spot where the Limmat River flows out of Zurich Lake sprawls the city of the same name, the biggest one in Switzerland. The international research conducted in 2007 declared the city as the one with the best and highest standards of living in the world.

By Ivana Kladarin Panić
Photo by Milan Melka

Switzerland, one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, comprises twenty-six cantons where the French, German and Italian languages are spoken. This country, renowned for its neutrality and pacifism, and which mostly boasts of its cheese, chocolate, watches and safest banks in the world, has truly something to offer to visiting guests.

The city of Zurich, with its three hundred sixty-five thousand residents, is a commercial and cultural centre of the Swiss Confederacy. It is placed in the canton of the same name on the coast of the fascinating Zurich Lake. It had been founded by the Celts of yore under the name of Taurus while in the second century of the Christian Era it fell under the Roman rule and was named Turicum. In early Middle Ages it transformed to the present day Zurich (Zurich in German). Presently, it is a modern city with splendid ambiences and German meticulousness.

It was one amongst first cities in Europe which started importing silk, wool and linen. At the time it began to develop as a trade centre while nowadays it has become one of the most successful business centres in Europe.

Therefore, whatever you do and wherever you go high prices will keep your head spinning. Particularly if you stroll to Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most famous streets in the city. If you happen to have deep pockets you may purchase all luxury goods starting from prestigious chocolate, fur and diamonds to high-class watches.

Zurich, where everything runs perfectly as a Swiss watch, is an interesting city where a lot can be looked at and experienced. The beauty of the city may be seen either by wandering around the city with sights already set in your mind’s chart or from the water by choosing one of romantic steamships cruising on the lake. Zurich cherishes well preserved old city heart with numerous churches, palaces, squares, fountains and monuments. A walk around the city should start from the Romanesque-style Grossmunster cathedral completed in the thirteen century, the one which has a significant role in disseminating Protestantism as forty percent of Switzerland’s residents belong to the Reformed Church. The cathedral lies at Zwingli Square at the very heart of the city. Ulrich Zwingli, one of the founders of Protestantism, initiated the Swiss reformation as the main preacher in Zurich. In the old part of the city one should not miss to see the oldest Evangelical-Reformed Church of this lavish mountainous country, the church of St. Peter which dates back to the ninth century and is famous for its biggest clock face in Europe. There is also the old Gothic-style Fraumunster church dating from AD 853 which is situated in the Kambelgasse with its impressive stained glass designed by the famous painter Mark Chagall.

The Swiss say that Zurich is the spotlight of the world’s art since it provides a number of museums, exhibitions and concerts. At the top of the list we find the Kunsthaus Museum, an art gallery which was established in 1787 when the Association of Artists of Switzerland began collecting art works and donated them to the Association upon which this culture institution was later born. This gallery houses one of the greatest contemporary art collections in the world.

The Landesmuseum is one of the most famous museums in Zurich. It is the largest museum of Switzerland’s history where it is explained, in the best manner, how the plain shepherd people built up this country by the work of their own hands and self-enterprisingly.

Admirers of Le Corbusier, the most famous Swiss architect, may pay visit to his house and find out how he applied to human measurements Leonardo’s golden ratio idea. Passionate coffee fans should see Jackob’s Museum and by tasting the drink learn all about this famed Swiss manufacturer of the black drink. One should not leave out the Bellerive Museum, the fashion, architecture and design museum housed in the villa lying at the beach of Zurich Lake, as well as the Toy Museum.

In Zurich all senses will find pleasure. Specialties are found in abundance. The cuisine, with unavoidable cheese playing the main role, has touches of the Italian, French and German cuisines. When one mentions the Swiss cuisine one, however, and above all, thinks of the fondue. There is no greater pleasure than to see in a rustic ambience, and by the crackling fire, how cubes of bread are dipped into the spiced and melted cheese simmering in a specially designed pot with a burner underneath. Although the fondue may be prepared with meat the principle is similar – everything else is just a nuance. If all this is experienced in the ale house Zeughauskeller or in the cult bar Aelpli positioned at the very city’s centre, of which the walls are painted with motives of the snowy Alps, the delight is complete. The salty adventure may be replaced with the sweet one at the same place by consuming the cake prepared of white chocolate and orange liqueur, or you can just proceed to one of the multitudes of chocolatiers’ shops.

In addition to a walking tour, in the period from May to October the city may be toured by riding free of charge bikes which are introduced to reduce amount of gas emissions. Zurich has one of the most developed public transport infrastructures in the world. You may travel by local trains, trams and buses. Apart from the overland public transport there are lake and river boats as well as a cable car.

In any case, Zurich is the right place for those on vacation who enjoy relaxing as the vivid hills, forests, crystal clear water lakes and rivers and valleys surround the city. Anybody will find something in abundance of restaurants, bars and clubs or may choose something from the rich cultural content: operas, ballets, theatre performances, musicals, exhibitions in over fifty museums and a hundred of galleries... and the time will pass by in a split second.