Switzerland's 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites

As a tourist country, Switzerland has something for every kind of holiday. The infrastructure is well developed and offers plenty of variety. It has accommodation, from campsites to luxury hotels, to satisfy every requirement. The diversity of the landlocked, mountainous country is the essence of Switzerland and gives the country its unique identity.

The UNESCO World Heritage program aims to catalogue, name and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of mankind.

There are currently 851 World Heritage Sites located worldwide. Of these, 660 are cultural, 166 are natural and 25 are mixed properties. There are seven spectacular places on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Switzerland, five cultural and two natural:

1983- The Old City of Bern

1983- The Convent of St. Gallen

1983- The Benedictine Convent of St John at Mustair

2000- Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona

2001- Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn

2003- Monte San Giorgio

2007- Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces

1. The Old City of Bern,

Swiss Mittelland

Bern, the Swiss capital, has at its heart a glorious medieval city. This stretches along an extended peninsula created by the Aare glacier millennia ago, and still bounded by a loop of the Aare River. The city was founded in 1191 by Berchtold V, Duke of Zahringen, and extended as far as the celebrated clock tower. After the devastating fire of 1405, Bern was rebuilt using the local gray-green sandstone. The medieval houses along the streets of the compact city center are fronted by six kilometers of arcades – effectively the longest covered historical shopping promenade in the whole of Europe. Together with the cathedral, and its 100-meter spire, these make for a sublimely unified urban landscape – which is why UNESCO in 1983 added Bern to its list of World Heritage Sites.

Web site: www.berninfo.com

2. The Convent of St. Gallen, Eastern Switzerland

In St. Gallen, history comes alive. The city's emblem is the abbey district with its Baroque cathedral; these, along with the abbey library and archive, were added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites in 1983. Even today you can feel the spirit of the Benedictine monks who lived and worked here: particularly in the world-famous abbey library, affectionately known as the "pharmacy of the soul."

In fact the entire old town is a historical gem, with its traditional restaurants, its winding alleys, and numerous oriel windows on its houses – more than 100 in all. The best way to experience all this is on one of the excellent tours organized by St. Gallen-Bodensee Tourism.

Web site: www.st.gallen-bodensee.ch

3. The Benedictine Convent of St John at Mustair, Graubunden

The valley of Val Mustair is internationally renowned for its Benedictine convent of St. Johann in Mustair, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The oldest parts of the convent and church – with its precious early medieval cycle of wall paintings, the largest and best preserved in the world – date from 775 A.D. onwards.

These buildings are among only a handful of structures to have survived from the Carolingian period; it can be assumed that Charlemagne himself actively supported their construction. The convent's museum is located in the Planta tower, built around 960, and said to be the oldest secular building in the Alps. It presents 1,200 years of monastic and architectural history, and offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the convent.

Web site: www.mustair.ch

4. Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona, Ticino

The fortifications of the "three castles – Castelgrande, Castello di Montebello and Castello di Sasso Corbaro" of Bellinzona – are among the most important surviving examples of medieval military architecture in the whole of the Alps. The entire complex, with its castles, walls, towers, battlements and gates, often leaves visitors lost for words.

The three castle museums cover local history, art and archaeology, additionally staging temporary exhibitions. Also in Bellinzona, the magnificent neoclassical Teatro Sociale, the only 19th-century theater in Switzerland, has been restored after 150 years to its original splendor. The town gallery Villa dei Cedri lies close to the Romanesque churches of San Biagio and Santa Maria delle Grazie.

The renovation of the monastery at Monte Carasso has been hailed as an excellent example of successful planning, and a model of contemporary architecture – winning the Swiss Heritage Society's Wakker Prize in 1993.

Web site: www.bellinzona.ch

5. Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn, Valais

Known for the extraordinary beauty of its landscape, it is the first and only site in the Alps to bear this honorable distinction.

The Aletsch Glacier is the biggest glacier in the Alps, with a length of 23 km. To cross the Aletsch Glacier is to take a magnificent journey into a stunning world of ice and rocks, Alpine flowers and forests.

Web site: www.jungfrau.ch/en/

6. Monte San Giorgio, Ticino

The Mendrisiotto and Basso Ceresio (Lower Ceresio) is a small triangular region at the southern tip of Ticino, bordering Italy and close to Lugano, Como and Varese. It is a natural paradise with a surprising variety of landscapes, from gentle plains to hillsides terraced with vineyards, and from lakeshores scattered with villages to wild mountain peaks.

Between the two southern arms of Lake Lugano (Porto Ceresio and Riva San Vitale) stands the peak of Monte San Giorgio. From the summit, 1,097 meters above sea level, the views of the lake and mountains are gorgeous.

A cable car climbs swiftly and comfortably from Brusino up to the viewpoint at Serpiano (650m) and the Ristorante Funivia, whose terrace looks out over the lake.

Web site: www.montesangiorgio.ch/

7. Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces, Lake Geneva

Lavaux, which lies between Lausanne and Vevey, won World Heritage status on the strength of its ancient vineyards, spectacular lakeside setting and alpine panorama across the lake.

The 830-hectare terraced area is devoted to the production of some of Switzerland's finest wines, including eight wines with the AOC quality label, among them Dezaley, Calamin, Epesses and

St. Saphorin.

The wine region lies in a zone under pressure from construction, and those behind the bid were keen to preserve the landscape and secure the region's future. But even before gaining World Heritage status, under existing planning regulations Lavaux was well protected by legislation at local, cantonal and federal levels.

Web site: www.lake-geneva-region.ch