Description of the attraction
The Church of the Holy Spirit in Bern was built in the period from 1726 to 1729 on the ruins of the older Church of the Spitalkirche, which was located here, which belongs to the monastery of the Holy Spirit. Temples have been built on this site since the arrival of Christianity in these lands. There are records that testify to the existence of other churches here in the period from 1228 to 1482. It is also known that during construction work in 1726, material objects were found confirming this fact.
The Church of the Holy Spirit was built under the leadership of Niklaus Schiltknecht and Daniel Stürler, as well as with the participation of the Hungarian master John Palus Nader. The building was made of local sandstone. The temple can accommodate more than 2,000 parishioners and is one of the largest Protestant churches in all of Switzerland.
To our time, of the ancient elements of the church, only the bell has survived, erected on a new bell tower. Some historians suggest that the church was part of a monastery before the Reformation, but no written evidence of this has survived. Today it is included in the list of the best examples of Renaissance architectural art in the country.
The building of the church is made in the Baroque style. When entering inside, an arched colonnade immediately catches your eye, which, although it visually reduces the interior space, does not harm the beauty of the interior of the temple. For those times, such a circular gallery was a new and unusual element, especially for the church. In the choir, you can see an amazing stucco ornament.
