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Busskirch Village
This little corner of Rapperswil-Jona, with its charming Medieval Gothic church, is as picturesque as the rest of the landscape around the Obersea and Lake Zurich in Switzerland.
Quaint and historic buildings in pretty villages, set against impossibly green grass, and surrounded by snow capped mountains: Switzerland truly is a picture-perfect postcard!
One of the many perks of living as an expat is that you meet people whose homes are in places you might never have heard of otherwise. Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the northeast of Switzerland – a stone’s throw (or short train ride) from Zurich (see: Rapperswil-Jona). I was there to visit friends, as I had done once before, many years before (see: Lines and Patterns: Holzbrücke, Rapperswil-Hurden, Swiss Apples and National Day, and Grass at the Bachtelturm and the Roses of Historic Rapperswil).
It was a bit of a rushed visit: I had travelled from Paris via Geneva (watch this space!) by train, and had only a few days before I had to return to Paris for a flight. But we made the most of it: talking, eating, and just walking through the charming streets and picturesque fields and forests.
Rapperswil-Jona is a collection of villages and hamlets that merged to form a new political entity in 2007. In addition to the two communities that give it its name, it also takes in Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, and Wagen.
It sits on the south side of the Seedamm: a moraine of the Linth Glacier that lies across Lake Zurich, partially separating it from the Obersee. Evidence of lake-crossing structures date back to the Early Bronze Age. Today, the causeway at the Seedamm carries a rail line and a highway – making Rapperswil-Jona an important transport hub.
Join me for some easy, relatively flat, small-town walking:
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Stately Home
My friends live in Jona – an independent municipality in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland until it merged with Rapperswil and became Rapperswil-Jona. That is where we started our days.
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Apples
Can you say “Switzerland” without thinking of William Tell and apples?
The Historic Haus zum Engel – House of the Angel
Houses have names here! This one sits at the eastern end of Rapperswil’s old town. First mentioned in 1530, this Medieval building with its late-Gothic facade now features a mural painted by Swiss artist Jost Blöchliger (1934–1989) following the building’s restoration in the late 1960s.
Fischmarktplatz – Fish Market Square
At the south end of the old town, this large square was rebuilt in the late 1800s.
Rapperswil across the Tracks
The railway line across the Seedamm is protected from errant pedestrians by fencing. Through it, we can look up over the old town to Rapperswil Castle on the hill.
Komposition in Corten by Silvio Mattioli (1929-2011)
In complete contrast with the old town, the OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences features modern buildings and a large abstract sculpture installation of weathering steel.
Holzbrücke and the Heilig Hüsli (Holy House)
Pedestrians have been crossing here since time immemorial: this historic track forms part of Jakobsweg, the Way of St. James, (Camino de Santiago). In 2001, this new 841-meter-long wooden footbridge – built in the same place as the original bridge – was opened between us here in Rapperswil-Jona and Hurden on the south side of the lake.
Heilig Hüsli – The Holy House
This little chapel was originally built next to the old bridge in 1551, replacing earlier versions. The first recorded mention of a wooden prayer house or chapel greeting pilgrims on their way toward Santiago de Compostela was in 1485.
St. Martin Church
Back in the 1st century CE, Busskirch was a Roman lakeside crossroads stage town. The current church was built on Roman ruins some time in the 13th century.
🎶 I’m Getting Married in the Morning 🎶
Horse and carriage is a popular form of Swiss wedding transport.
Between the Mountains and the Fields
Beautyberry – Callicarpa
I can’t help but admire the range of plants in the gardens as we walked back home.
Horse Chestnuts – Aesculus Hippocastanum
The glossy brown seeds of horse chestnuts – known as a conkers – are not edible. Unlike sweet or European chestnuts (Castanea), which belong to the beech/oak family (Fagaceae), horse chestnuts belong to the soapberry family (Sapindaceae).
From the Meienberg
The next morning we walked up the hill behind Rapperswil-Jona. We have views over the town, the lake, and the mountains to the south.
Wayside Crucifix
Walking through a hillside neighbourhood, we pause to admire one of many traditional devotional crosses that punctuate this predominantly Catholic country.
Mürtschenstock
The mountains of the Glarus Alps rise up, far to the southeast.
Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt – Parish Church of Saint Mary’s Assumption
As we ascend the hill, we have views over some of the town’s historic buildings.
Historic Medieval Complex of Rapperswil-Jona
Schloss Rapperswil – Rapperswil Castle – stands on a smaller hill between us and the lake.
Walkers into the Jonerwald
The path into the woods – once we get there – is shady and calm.
Wet and Winding
A gentle rain sprinkles as we make our way along the level path. Jonervald is a bit of a patchwork of forested lands, cobbled together and linked by walks that sometimes border on private property.
A Stump
This is a temperate and humid climate zone, so there is plenty of moss and greenery around our feet.
Light on the Path
The autumn trees are at different stages; the yellowing one in front of us strikes me as a beacon.
Into the Woods
Bell Tower
We find our way out of the forest via a different road – which leads us to a good lunch. From there, we head back home to Jona, stopping to admire the Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt (Church of the Assumption of Mary). This church sits in the place of the first Christian house of worship here, dated to 812CE. The church and bell-tower we see today were mostly built in 1852 in distinctive Neo-Gothic style.
The Crucifixion of Jesus with Mary and John
It is cool and quiet inside the Maria Himmelfahrt Church – as you’d expect in a Catholic church outside of service times. I think that this gilded wooden Calvary group sculpture is modern – though it is reminiscent of 16th-century Renaissance works.
That was a fitting end to our lovely Sunday walk.
We returned to the apartment, where I packed my bags in readiness for my onward trip the next day.
Until next time,
Safe Travels!
Pictures: 05-06October2024
