Description of the attraction
The Three Kings Hotel is one of the oldest and most luxurious hotels not only in Basel, but throughout Switzerland, and possibly in Europe. The hotel is much better known by its German name "Hotel drei Könige", although since 1986 the official name is French, "Grand Hotel Le Trois Roy". It is located on the left bank of the Rhine, just below the very first bridge over the river.
Before the invention of the railway, rivers were the main transport arteries of Europe, and Basel was of great importance as a port on the southern reaches of the Rhine. There was a ferry crossing here, and an inn near the crossing is mentioned in documents from 1255. A bridge was then built on the site of the ferry, and the inn was demolished after the earthquake of 1356.
The hotel with the name "At the Three Kings" was first mentioned in 1681, and this is not a unique name for an inn in Switzerland and southern Germany. By "three kings" we mean the wise men - the Eastern kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus, and the merchants saw some similarities between the kings who set out on the road with precious gifts and themselves who travel with expensive goods.
In 1844, by order of the new owner, the hotel was completely rebuilt. The author of the project was the famous architect Amadeus Merian, and the new building in the belle epoque style has become a decoration of the city, representing a fine example of discreet luxury. Since that time, the Three Kings Hotel has positioned itself as a grand hotel, rather than a modest hotel for merchants or traveling gentlemen.
In 2006, after two years of reconstruction, the hotel reopened. The interior of 1844 was restored in it, if possible, all modern conveniences and technologies of the XXI century were preserved alone.
Among the famous guests of the hotel are politicians, writers, artists and actors. Napoleon Bonaparte and Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth II and Charles Dickens, Voltaire and the Dalai Lama stayed here.
