Switzerland Guide
Fribourg
Cathédrale St-Nicolas
Fribourg's highlight is the towering, High Gothic Cathédrale St-Nicolas. Take a moment to view the soaring, buttressed tower, exposed to view for its entire 73m height clear to the ring of feathery spires on top. Built over a church dating from the city's foundation in 1157, the present building was begun in 1283, and took two centuries to complete. Traffic swishes past the elaborate main portal, featuring a tympanum with the Last Judgement. The vast interior is immediately impressive, its mustiness and gloominess redolent with old incense. The pulpit (1516) and, opposite it, the octagonal font (1499) are both particularly ornate, and the tracery choir screen (1466) is dazzlingly intricate. Virtually all the stained glass in the cathedral is modern Art Nouveau. Don't miss the tiny Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, to the left of the door as you head out, beside a plaque commemorating the mass celebrated here by Pope John Paul II in 1984: inside you'll find a group of 10 figures, sculpted from sandstone in about 1430. Christ is being laid in the tomb by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; behind, Mary is supported by John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, two other women and two angels. Three sleeping soldiers are placed nearby. The life-sized ensemble, drenched in a blueish submarine light from modern stained-glass windows, is extraordinarily moving, every stony figure conveying an intense emotion that effortlessly spans the six centuries it has stood here.
Address: Just off Place Notre-Dame
Opening time: Mon– Sat 7.30am–7pm, Sun 8.30am–9.30pm
Price: Free