Description of the attraction
The former medieval fortification - the northern city wall of Musegg - is one of the symbols of the city of Lucerne. For the first time, the city fortifications of Lucerne were mentioned in documents from 1226 and 1238, but they talked about the inner ring of walls that surrounded the city. Scientists believe that construction of the Mussegg Wall began in 1370. Work continued intermittently until 1442, when the Cité Tower was built, which received an original decoration in 1535 - a large clock, which, moreover, shows a slightly different time than all the other dials of the city. The clock on the Cit tower is in a hurry for one minute, so the sound signal from this building is heard earlier than the similar one from the City Hall.
In the interval between 1833 and 1856, part of the city wall was dismantled, because it prevented the city from growing. In addition, according to the city municipality of that time, Lucerne looked much better without the nine-meter walls limiting it. The Musegg Wall, in addition to its 40-meter-long eastern section, has survived to our time, for it limited the city from the north, where it was not supposed to build new quarters and build roads. Behind the wall, you can still see a field owned by a single farmer.
The Mussegg wall is 870 meters long and 1.5 meters thick. Now you can walk along it, enjoying the panorama of Lucerne. A wooden staircase leads upstairs. Only 3 towers out of 9 are open for inspection: the already mentioned Sentry (Cit), Schirmer and Manly. I must say that each tower has a "self-explanatory" name. For example, the Schirmer Tower, whose name means "Protective", was used to observe the surroundings, the Pulver (Powder) Tower was used to store gunpowder and ammunition, etc.
