Church of St. Leodegar, Lucerne, Switzerland

The Church of St. Leodegar was built in parts from 1633 to 1639 on the foundation of the Roman basilica which had burnt in 1633. This church was one of the few built north of the Alps during the Thirty Years War and one of the largest and art history rich churches of the German late renaissance period.

In the 8th century there was already an abbey consecrated to Saint Maurice on the current site of the church, which had been donated by Pepin the Short, and was known at the time as the Monastarium Luciaria. By the 12th century the abbey was under the jurisdiction of the Murbach Abbey, whose patron saint was St. Leodegar.

In 1291 the abbey was sold to the Habsburgs. In 1433 the city of Lucerne, no longer a member of the Eidgenossenschaft, took control of the abbey, and in 1455 it was converted from Benedictine to a “universal order” church.

The monastery experienced a heyday during the time of the reformation due to Luzern being a prominent city for the Swiss Catholic cantons. The papal nuncio, resident in Luzern, used the church as his cathedral during this time.

In 1874 the parish church of St. Leodegar was founded and with that the church became simultaneously a monastery church and parish church, as it is today.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Switzerland

User Reviews

Aparna Banerjee (49 days ago)
I just love the it.

Kritika Khanijo (4 months ago)
It's a great church to visit in Lucerne.

Ivan Sušić (4 months ago)
It is a nice place to visit. The church itself is quite small, but in the church's garden is a graveyard of important people which I have found very cool. In this way a person can find out something new about history. Additionally, the stairs which lead tower the church are great point to take a photo with a nice panorama and the Castle-hotel behind. Also, you can find a drinking water supply next the church, food points and chill a bit at these stairs.

Przemysław • (5 months ago)
Placed a bit higher than the center of the city. It's good to walk in and see its architecture including the surroundings. If it's hot outside you can chill inside the church.

Andrea S (5 months ago)
The church is ok, not really interesting. But avoid scam...scammers stops people on the stairs asking money for charity. I refused and after few minutes I have seen them getting 50 CHF from an old lady really easily. I tried to film him but he immediately run behind the church graveyards.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

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