Castles and Chapels

A few sights from a very pleasant day around Lake Zurich (traveling by train, on foot, and by boat). The first is from a footbridge approaching the northern shore of the lake, with the 13-Century castle of Rapperswil and St. John’s church overlooking the town. The others are from the small island of Ufenau. There is evidence that this idyllic “island of silence,” as it is called, was inhabited as far back as several centuries before the birth of Christ. St. Martin’s chapel (second photo) was built in the 7th Century on the site of a 2nd-Century Gallo-Roman temple. St. Peter and Paul church (final photo) was built in the 12th-Century. The island, owned by Einsiedeln Abbey, is also home to vineyards, a restaurant, and nationally protected wetlands. I even spotted a couple donkeys grazing.

(Thursday’s planned trip with Fr. Basil to southern Switzerland to see the Matterhorn has been postponed until Saturday due to an unfavorable weather forecast.)