Switzerland is a mountain and lake paradise
“When the Lord God distributed the wealth of the bowels of the earth, he
they were not enough for one tiny country in the heart of Europe.
To correct this injustice, Lord
gave this country mountains like castles in the sky,
colossal glaciers, thundering waterfalls,
countless lakes and friendly fertile valleys”
These words, of course, refer to a country that you so want to visit, and having visited, you really want to tell. The name of this wonderful country is Switzerland. Seeing her natural beauty for the first time, poems were born in our group of tourists:
Now our way to the cherished goal is
They shouted joyfully “Hurrah! ' when we got there.
The Swiss region fell in love with us -
The weather was warm and the sun generously gave us.
The snowy peaks sparkle, the lakes shine with turquoise,
Cows walk in the meadows and towns as in the picture.
And the air is so crystal clear -
It's hard to believe this reality.
In the evening, we arrived in the city of Interlaken, which is located in the canton of Bern, in a hollow enclosed by high mountains, and lodged at the Strand-und golfhotel "Neuhaus" *** in a beautiful place on the shores of Lake Thun, surrounded by majestic mountains.
Interlaken was the first, sheltered for three nights.
In Interlaken we had a tour a couple of days later. This city got its name due to its location, which is explained by Inter lapides - "inter-lake". Being in the very heart of Switzerland, small Interlaken with a population of 5.5 thousand people was like a jumper between two elongated arcs of lakes - Thun and Brienz. It has a main boulevard, where there are many hotels with a warm welcome and impeccable service, shops with fashionable clothes, famous Swiss watches and luxurious jewelry, as well as cute and cozy cafes and elegant restaurants.
From here you can climb the 4158 meter high Jungfrau mountain, where at an altitude of 3454 meters is the highest railway station in Europe, which is called the "Top of Europe". Mendelssohn said the famous words about Interlaken: “Whoever has not seen the landscape of Interlaken, Switzerland is unknown to him. It is impossible to describe this, since words are powerless here. . . ". . .
Here we bought all the clocks and fed us fondue.
We met the Jungefrau, swam in Tunasee -
All were satisfied.
In the morning we went to get acquainted with French-speaking Switzerland. Fairy-tale houses, a fortress wall and pastoral landscapes - this is how Gruyè re met us - a tiny medieval town with one street and a set of cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops that is usual for a tourist place. However, he gained fame all over the world.
Gruyè res is a wonderful town on the top of the Alpine mountains.
Here the althorns played for us, here we saw the fortress.
The name of the town evokes associations with the famous cheese variety. And this is not an accident, because the tiny town is the birthplace of the world-famous delicacy with an exquisite nutty flavor. Gruyè re cheese is made from natural cow's milk and matures from 5 months to several years. Once a week, the head of ripening cheese is washed with salt water and turned over. The result is a yellow, hard cheese without holes, with a sharp, savory aroma and a slightly nutty flavor. In the town you can visit a real cheese factory, which introduces the secrets of making the famous cheese.
Treated with local cheese
And they offered to buy everything.
The mountain on which the castle is located is low, about 800 m, nevertheless, from the walls of the castle there is a stunning view of the valley and the surrounding hills.
But this is not the only attraction for tourists.
What you don't expect to see in a place like this is the museum of the famous contemporary graphic artist Hans Rudolf Giger, the author of the concept and art design for the film "Alien", which brought the artist an Oscar for best visual effects. Giger's fantasy created a whole galaxy of biomechanoids - monsters in which metal-mechanical body parts coexist with biological tissues. His style is called necro-gothic or biomechanics. This very unusual museum contrasts strongly with the quiet and calm Gruyè res, but it is well remembered. There is a restaurant next to the museum, the interior of which is fully consistent with the scenery of the movie "Alien".
Swiss Riviera
We are heading to Lake Geneva, where the lovely resort towns of Vevey and Montreux are located. Vevey is the birthplace of baby food and milk chocolate. Is this where the headquarters of Nestl is located?
, the first to meet us in the city. The Nestlé company was named after its founder, Henri Nestlé , the man who made a real revolution in nutrition.
The Food Museum (Alimentarium) is dedicated to this. Here they tell how they eat in different parts of the world. Among the exhibits of the museum there is a pyramid that clearly shows the proportions in which you need to use various foods: below what you need to eat a lot - first liquids, then fruits and vegetables, less bread, even less - animal products, and very little - sweets, nuts and oils.
Opposite the museum, a huge fork is stuck into the lake, which was installed by the Food Museum in honor of its 10th anniversary. On the embankment, we noticed numerous armchairs near the lake, screwed to the stones. It's nice to take care of vacationers!
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Graham Greene and Charlie Chaplin spent the last years of their lives and died in Vevey.
In memory of Charlie Chaplin, a monument was erected in Vevey.
In Vevey we were brought to Lake Geneva,
To capture the famous Charlie.
And we also honored Gogol, our beloved writer,
And the inscription in the native was adequately appreciated.
The monument to Gogol was not erected by chance: in 1836 he worked on Dead Souls here.
My attention was drawn to another monument erected in honor of the Romanian poet, who left his mark, enriching the rhythm, style and vocabulary - Mihai Eminescu. Many local residents do not even know whose bust is located in the clearing.
The embankment is decorated with many different monuments and installations.
And we drive into the neighboring popular resort town, the unofficial capital of the Swiss Riviera - Montreux, known throughout the world for its closed private schools and beauty institutes, nightclubs and cabarets, bars and casinos, jazz and classical music festivals, the Golden Rose TV festival and the festival laughter. The exhibition center constantly hosts various expositions and fairs, including the prestigious International Telesymposium.
Having visited this Swiss resort, one cannot but admire the splendor of the embankment, which is considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. The first attraction is the 1906 Montreux Palace Art Nouveau hotel, where Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Leo Tolstoy, Igor Stravinsky, Churchill, Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Strauss and many others lived.
In front of the hotel is a monument to Vladimir Nabokov, who lived there with his wife from 1960 to 1977, having moved here from America.
Here they rented a room on the sixth floor. They walked along these streets, went to the nearest cafes to drink coffee or tea. Not far from Montreux, in the town of Clarens, Nabokov is buried with his wife, who died in 1992.
On the waterfront, on the Place du March? , rises a bronze monument to the famous musician Freddie Mercury, who is captured in his most famous "winner" pose - with his right arm extended upwards. He lived here and his own recording studio was located here.
Montreux is a resort paradise for those
Who wants to take a break from everyone.
Mercury and Nabokov were guests there,
They did not look away from the Riviera.
There are even more various monuments and installations on the local embankment than in neighboring Vevey.
Numerous palm trees, cypresses, almonds and laurels grow along the shore and narrow stairs leading from the city center. In summer, there is always a light spicy aroma in the air, exuded by southern trees.
City gardeners masterfully take advantage of the local climate and decorate the embankments with a wide variety of exotic flowers and trees. A characteristic decoration of the embankments of Montreux are flower beds and sculptures that give originality to the landscape.
The pearl of Montreux is considered to be the famous Chillon Castle, sung by Byron in the poem "The Prisoner of Chillon" (XII-XIII centuries), with medieval dungeons, a knight's hall, a hall of Justice, a ducal bedroom and a wooden chapel. Built to control the strategically important coastal road from Northern Europe to Italy, it is one of the most effective fortifications on the continent.
With its small size and extremely simple device, it was never taken by attack (except for a two-day siege by the Bernese in 1536, which rescued the prototype of Byron's famous poem, the Swiss patriot Francois Bonivare, from prison). For a long time, the castle was a prison, and now there is a museum here. It is located 3 kilometers south of Montreux.
We were taken to Chillon Castle,
Provided with all information.
Walk along Lake Geneva
Could not do without admiration!
Climbing up the autobahn, we arrived at the thermal center of Lavey-les-Bains, located in the inner part of the Rhone Valley in the canton of Vallis. Its development began on February 27.1831, when a local fisherman, making his way behind his net along the Rhone River, discovered the presence of hot water.
The Lavey-les-Bains resort is managed by the Eurothermes French group of companies, which provides a unique opportunity to use the valuable experience of France, Belgium, the Canary Islands and other European countries. The peculiarity of the resort is the hottest and healing water in Switzerland, thermal springs with a temperature of up to 62 ° C (water with lithium and fluorides, sulfurous sulphate-sodium-chloride). It has two thermal pools (34-36°C): outdoor (28°C in summer) and indoor pools. Large pool (1000 m2) with night illumination, includes: jacuzzi, hydromassage jets, cascades. There is also an Eastern steam bath: a hammam, a reactivated shower, two Turkish baths, fountains with drinking water, marble hot banquettes for relaxation. Aromatization of the air of these steam baths promotes relaxation and has a beneficial effect on the lungs.
We had a great time there, swimming to our heart's content in all its pools, listening to music flowing under water in the indoor pool, visiting the baths and dousing with cold water from a barrel.
Climbing up the autobahn,
Our path lay in Lave-les-Bains.
The living source struck us,
Rejuvenated in three hours.
We returned to Interlaken in a good mood, admiring the beauties of Lake Geneva, green alpine meadows surrounded by beautiful mountains. We made a short stop in a very picturesque place, where the greatest collection of cow sculptures was collected at the road restaurant. This is how the Swiss value their breadwinners, who brought fame and money to the country.
Lucerne - the "heart" of Switzerland
The next two days were devoted to getting to know the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland and their main cities, which are said to be: Bern is the “head”, Zurich is the “pocket”, Lucerne is the “heart” of Switzerland.
And in the morning the path lay with us to the capital.
Having crossed the Brü ning Pass,
And seeing the beauty of the country from the top of the mountains,
First Lucerne is a beautiful visited.
We start from the picturesque city of Lucerne with a population of 60 thousand people - the capital of the German-speaking canton of the same name. The city is located in the center of the country, so it is convenient to travel from it to different regions of the country. The railway station plays an important role in his life. After the old Lucerne train station burned down in 1971, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed a stylish replacement. The main portal of the former station, which survived the fire, now stands like an arch in the middle of the square in front of the new station.
To the right of the station is the Cultural and Congress Center (KKL), famous for its unique roof.
Under a gigantic 12.000 m2 roof, Parisian architect Jean Nouvel brought together a concert hall, a multifunctional hall, a business center and a city art museum. The concert hall with 1840 seats is one of the best in the world. On the left is a pier with snow-white boats, snow-white swans swim on the lake. The embankment is lined with elegant mansions that look like wedding cakes. In Lucerne, a significant section of the medieval Museggmauer wall (built around 1400.870 meters long) with eight high towers has been preserved.
We saw a monument in Lucerne:
"The Dying Lion" was paid tribute.
We approach the unique monument "The Dying Lion", which is dedicated to 700 Swiss guards who defended the Tuileries Palace and the life of the French king from the rebellious masses in 1792.
The monument was created and installed in 1821 on the initiative of the captain of the papal Swiss, who convinced the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen, who was then working in Rome, to make a monument to his dead friends. Mark Twain described this monument as "the saddest and most touching stone sculpture in the world. " The lion is carved right into the rock, the dying royal animal lies in a huge niche, and the muzzle is distorted by flour. Under the lion, the names of the dead guardsmen are carved in the rock. Under the niche there is a small calm lake, like tears…
We wandered along the bridges and cozy streets
In Lucerne, there is the Vierwaldstet Lake and the Reuss River, across which several bridges are thrown. The most beautiful and unusual of them is Kapellbrü cke ("Chapel Bridge") - the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe (built in 1365), one of the main attractions of Switzerland and a symbol of the city of Lucerne.
The bridge, whose length is 204.7 m, is not straight, but with turns and bends, which is especially remarkable. Initially, the bridge was built as a defensive corridor as part of the city fortifications and connected the old and new parts of the city separated by the Royce River. Near the middle of the bridge is the octagonal brick tower Wasserturm (German: Wasserturm - water tower), built before the construction of the bridge, in 1300. The tower served as a watchtower, dungeon, torture and fire tower. Currently, the Wasserturm houses a souvenir shop and a guild hall of the Artillery Association.
Under the ridge of the roof along the entire covered bridge are 111 triangular paintings that tell about the most important moments in the history of Switzerland.
Kapellbrü cke was badly damaged by a fire on August 18.1993, which is believed to have been ignited by an unextinguished cigarette. Most of the bridge was destroyed, killing 78 out of 111 paintings.
The Wasserturm was not damaged in the fire. The bridge and part of the paintings were restored according to the preserved inventory list. Kapellbrü cke reopened on 14 April 1994.
We didn't forget to visit churches either.
On the embankment of the river stands an obscenely luxurious Jesuit church, built in 1699. Outside, it is notable for its “two-horned” facade, where each of the towers is crowned with an onion-shaped dome, inside - a solid pink cream baroque and a cheerful ceiling painting.
The three main squares in the Old Town - Weinmarkt, Hirschenplatz and Kornmarkt - are surrounded by historic buildings decorated with colorful frescoes.
There are a lot of such picture houses here, their painting varies from quite decent everyday scenes and banal patterns to surreal faces, flames, zodiac signs and carnival masks, family emblems, genealogical trees, and turrets, flags, bay windows!
In front of the house on the right there is also a fountain with a man holding two ducks under his arms. Loved the big fountain too.
Mount Pilatus is located near Lucerne. Although the name of the mountain is suggestive of Pontius Pilate, the name of the mountain comes from the word pileatus, which means "to wear a hat. " And indeed, the peak is almost always hidden behind the clouds, from a distance resembling a magnificent headdress. Here, at an altitude of 2132 m, there is the steepest railway line on a gear wheel in the world, two lifts, hotels, restaurants. From the observation deck on the top of the mountain, a magnificent view of the Firwaldstet Lake, the surrounding mountain peaks and the city of Lucerne opens up.
Bern is the head of Switzerland
Our tour of the colorful Lucerne has come to an end and we continue our journey around the country by getting to know its capital - 125.000-strong Bern, which in 2014 the Swiss called the most beautiful city in Switzerland.
Arriving in Bern, the capital of the Swiss Confederation, we are going to get acquainted with the Old Town (“Alterbern”), which was founded on a hill at the bend of the Aare River, and later its territory became the historical center of Bern. In the 15th century, arcades were built in the old part, in the 16th century - fountains.
According to one of the legends about the origin of Bern, it got its name in honor of a bear that was caught during a hunt by the founder of the city, Berchtold von Zä hringen. Now the bear is a symbol of the city dearly loved by the locals. Living symbols live in the Barengraben (Berengraben) park, specially created for them, located on the picturesque bank of the Aar River, very popular with local residents and guests of the city.
I also managed to see a bear from afar.
We approach the Bernese Cathedral (Berner Munster) - the current Protestant cathedral, built in the late Gothic style. The construction of the cathedral began in 1421 and ended in 1893. The cathedral is dedicated to the Great Martyr Vincent of Saragossa. This is the highest cathedral in Switzerland (the height of the tower is 100.6 meters). Its bell is also the largest in the country.
Above the main entrance to Munster is one of the most complete collections of late Gothic sculptures in Europe - a three-dimensional illustration of the Last Judgment. The composition is made up of numerous sculptures (47 large statues, the originals of which are kept in the Bern History Museum, and 170 smaller statues - original works of the 15th-16th centuries).
Next to the cathedral there is a park, from the terrace of which a wonderful view of the river and the city opens.
In 1983, the cathedral, along with all the buildings of Old Bern, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
We continue our acquaintance with the capital along the pedestrian street Kramgasse.
We pass by the house-museum where Albert Einstein in 1903-1905 rented an apartment on the second floor with his wife, Mileva Marić , during his service in the patent office. It was this period of his life that is considered the most eventful: in 1905, the special theory of relativity was developed in this apartment. Genius was then only 26 years old!
We pay attention to the houses decorated with funny sculptures: a warrior, a butcher, a monkey, a bird, a bear.
An attraction of Old Bern are also numerous fountains, the total number of which exceeds 100 pieces. Most of the fountains were created during the Renaissance, when Bern became the capital of the canton, and the sculptures in these fountains were created by the Freiburg sculptor Hans Ging.
The fountains were originally built as public water supplies. As the power of Bern strengthened, the fountains were decorated and improved, but did not lose their original purpose. In the middle of the pedestrian street are the famous Bernese fountains dating back to the middle of the 16th century. There are 15 of them in total and they are all very interesting and beautiful. I'll start with the fountain "Justice". The central figure of the fountain is a statue symbolizing the Roman goddess of justice. The costume (blue robe with golden armor), as well as the sandals on the feet of the goddess, correspond to the era of the Roman Empire. At the feet of the figure are the pope, the emperor, the chairman of the cantonal council of Bern and the sultan, personifying theocracy, monarchy, republic and autocracy, respectively. Apparently, this should symbolize that no matter what the power, it still obeys justice.
The Samson Fountain (Simsonbrunnen) represents the biblical story of Samson killing the lion.
Ahead is the Zytglogge ("time bell") - a medieval clock tower, which arose in 1218-1220 and is one of the most famous symbols of Bern. On the eastern facade of the tower there is an astronomical clock installed in 1530. The mechanism of the clock sets in motion the figures of a rooster, bears, Chronos, every hour they play a performance. It starts four minutes before the new hour. The watch also shows the movement of the stars and the signs of the zodiac. The clock on the Zytglogge tower is one of the three oldest clocks in Switzerland. In front of the Zytglogge is the Zä hringer Fountain, which was built in 1535 as a memorial to the founding of Bern by Duke Berthold V Zä hringen in 1191. The fountain is decorated with a statue of a bear in full combat attire (in medieval armor).
Between the legs of a big bear sits a bear cub that eats grapes.
The fountain "Eater of Children" was installed in 1545-46 by Hans Ging not far from the city theater in place of the former wooden one. At first, the fountain was simply called Platzbrunnen (“fountain in the square”), and in 1666 it received its current name. It is a sculpture of a seated ogre devouring a naked child. In his hands he holds a bag with other children. The giant is wearing a pointed hat, similar to the Jewish caps that they were required to wear in the Middle Ages. This fact gave rise to speculation that the giant meant Jews, and the eating of children was a reminder of ritual murder.
The Banner-bearer fountain (Vennerbrunnen) stands in front of the 15th-century city hall. In medieval Switzerland, Venners were those who defended cities and led troops into battle.
A brave warrior stands at the top of this fountain in full armor and holds the banner of the canton of Bern in his hands. Behind him is a bear cub with a sword tucked into his belt.
The Federal Palace (Bundeshaus), located on the main square of Bundesplatz, is the seat of the Swiss government and parliament in Bern. In the central hall under the dome, located between the two meeting rooms, you can see many symbolic scenes from the history of Switzerland. The coats of arms of 22 Swiss cantons are depicted on the glass dome, which are framed by the inscription “one for all and all for one”. The coat of arms of the canton of Jura, formed only in 1978, is on the side. Four windows symbolize the four regions of the country according to the principle of their economic specialization. The medallions of the dome symbolize military affairs, education, justice and free labor.
Also in the building is a monument to the representatives of the communes of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, who swore an oath of mutual assistance and support on the Rü tli, a remote meadow near the Firwaldstet Lake. This union is the national myth of Switzerland and is popularly considered the foundation of the Swiss Union. Along the flights of stairs there are figures of landesknechts, which symbolize the four official languages of Switzerland. Opposite the Rü tli group, you can see a bas-relief depicting the history of the origin of the Swiss people, as described by Schiller in William Tell.
The building of the Swiss National Bank - not so much a landmark as the essence of the country - is located on the same square. On the square in front of these two important buildings, numerous fountains spout right out of the ground, in the jets of which both children and adults frolic. Therefore, there are always so many people on the square, but you can’t see people in uniform at all.
We fell in love with the capital Bern,
Zytgloggeturm was worthily appreciated.
Bears on the Aare seen,
Drinking water from the fountains.
Zurich - Switzerland's "pocket"
Approaching the city of Zurich, we first got into a traffic jam - a clear sign of a large business city. This is the largest city in the country (391 thousand people), together with the suburbs, numbering 700 thousand inhabitants. Founded more than 2 thousand years ago as a customs post during the Roman Empire, it is located on the shores of Lake Zurich at the exit of the Limmat River, in the valley between the mountain peaks Uetliberg and Zurichberg. We start our acquaintance with the city at the railway station. The main entrance to the station is made in the form of a triumphal arch overlooking the main shopping street of the city - Bahnhofstrasse.
These buildings are several hundred years old.
The area is home to St. Peter's Church, Zurich's oldest reformist church with the largest clock in Europe.
Of course, Zurich cannot be compared with Bern in terms of the number and quality of fountains, but it also has interesting and noteworthy ones. These include the fountain to women warriors on Lindenhof. Events unfolded in 1291. Albert the German laid siege to Zurich. When the defenders of the city were not enough, the women dressed in men's suits and came to the aid of the soldiers to the fortress wall. The enemy decided that there were still many fresh soldiers in the city, realized the futility of his undertaking and lifted the siege. In honor of these events, this fountain was erected, the decoration of which is a sculpture of a woman in military attire and with a spear in her hand. On the waterfront at the entrance to the hotel is a nice little fountain.
On the left bank of the Limmat River is the Grossmü nster Cathedral, the largest in Zurich, with two bell towers, one of which is decorated with a statue of Charlemagne. Previously, it was a monastery. In this cathedral in 1519 the priest Zwingli challenged the pope. In front of the cathedral there is a statue of the former burgomaster Hans Waldmann.
Not far from the Grossmü nster Cathedral is the old Romanesque church of the Fraumü nster convent. The monastery was founded in 853 by King Louis II of Germany. Today it is a functioning reformed church in the very center of the old city. The church has the largest org? throughout the canton of Zurich. But the Fraumü nster gained particular fame thanks to the colored stained glass windows made by Augusto Giacometti in 1945 and Marc Chagall in 1970.
If you look in a spiral, you can read the history of Christianity, from the Old to the New Testament, starting with the window of the Prophet, then the window of the Law, then Jacob and Zion, and the composition ends with the window of Jesus. Five windows amaze with their radiant color - bright, saturated, not quite familiar to the eye and somehow unearthly. As always, he is recognizable, Chagall: deep blue, ruby, emerald green, red. Seven years later, when he was already ninety, Chagall supplemented the decoration of the main building of the church in the form of a Gothic window with a rose consisting of seven petals, each of which symbolizes one of the days of the creation of the World.
And in Zurich we were all smitten with a monastery -
There the stained glass windows of Chagall shone for us.
We walked along Bahnhofstrasse a bit,
Let's go see where Ilyich lived for a short time.
Concluding the walking tour, we approach the house number 14 in Mirror Lane, where V. I.
Lenin during his stay in Zurich. Now an ordinary family lives in this apartment, whose members are not enthusiastic about the increased interest of tourists.
Zurich has many attractions to visit. Among them is the Swiss National Museum, located in a beautiful building built in 1898 in the eclectic style by the architect Gustav Hull in the form of a French Renaissance city chateau.
Rhine Falls
The final chord of our trip to Switzerland was a visit to the Rhine Falls in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, near the town of Neuhausen am Rheinfall, almost on the border with Germany. Along with the taller but less full-flowing Dettifoss waterfall in Iceland, the Rhine Falls are considered the largest in Europe. Its height is 23 m, width is 150 m.
Waterfall on the Rhine - a miracle! Nobody got sick.
Although our boats rocked,
But the pictures turned out great.
And everyone smiled happily.
The German poet Eduard Mö rike described this waterfall in this way: “Oh, traveler, be careful and keep your heart firmly in your hands - I almost lost mine from the joy of contemplating the powerful play of huge masses of falling and breaking the surface of the water. ”
The time has come to leave the world of magical Switzerland
And farewell to the heights is inevitable for us.
The lake-mountain paradise captivated with its beauty:
Never leave and stay here forever!
About the country, its history and people
Switzerland is a dizzying purity of air, magnificent greenery of meadows, sparkling snow-white peaks of mountains and a striking blue color of the lake. In this small beautiful country with a total area of .41. 3 thousand square meters. km you can simultaneously see impassive Germany, friendly Italy and charming France. In a country with a population of 8 million
There are German, Italian and French cantons whose inhabitants are representatives of the cultures of each of these countries. The national languages in Switzerland are German (northern, central and eastern Switzerland), French (western Switzerland), Italian (southern Switzerland) and Romansh derived from Latin (southeastern Switzerland). English is widely spoken. On postage stamps, the Latin name Helvetia is used, and on Swiss currency and cars, the Swiss Internet domain name uses the abbreviation CH (. ch), derived from the Latin name for Switzerland: Confoederatio Helvetica. On Helvetia Square in Bern, near the Historical Museum, a monument to Helvetia is erected.
The land of deep lakes Switzerland takes its name from Sweden, one of the three small cantons that united to form the Confederation. The foundations of the Swiss state were laid in 1291.
Until the end of the 18th century, there were no central state bodies in the country, but all-union councils (Tagsatzung) were periodically convened. In 1798, Switzerland was occupied by France and a French-style constitution was adopted. In 1803, as part of the "Act of Mediation", Napoleon returned independence to Switzerland. The constitution adopted in 1848 provided for the creation of a bicameral federal parliament. In 1874, a constitution was adopted that provided for the introduction of the institution of referendums. In 1971, women received the right to vote. In 1999, a new, thoroughly revised edition of this constitution was adopted. Now Switzerland is a confederal republic, consisting of 20 cantons and 6 semi-cantons. Each canton has its own constitution, laws, but their powers are limited by the federal constitution.
The federal authorities are in charge of issues of war and peace, foreign relations, the army, railways, communications, money emission, the approval of the federal budget, etc. Now it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, where GDP per capita is 81 thousand dollars. Switzerland ranks 3rd in life expectancy, which is 82.5 years, behind only Asian Japan (83.6) and Hong Kong (83.0) in this indicator.
The diversity of the ethnic composition, the originality of history are reflected in the material and spiritual culture. The type and form of rural settlements largely determines the terrain. For example, large villages predominate in the area of the Swiss plateau, and farms of 1-5 households dominate in the highlands. Regional, and sometimes ethnic differences also affect the cuisine of the Swiss. Thick corn porridge - palenta - is a favorite dish of the highlanders, and on the plateau it is considered livestock feed.
Its main elements are a white shirt, a red vest, gray or yellow trousers with suspenders, white knitted stockings and shoes with buckles. Until now, there are shoes hollowed out of wood or with wooden soles. The customs, rituals of the Swiss, their folklore are varied. In the German part of the country, polyphonic singing is common. A feature of the songs of the highlanders are peculiar throat sounds - yodels. In folk dances, couples predominate.
