Description: Being the main cathedral of the city, this used to be a Benedictine monastery founded in the 8th century.
In 1633, a fire destroyed the church; it was rebuilt in 1645. It is deemed to be the most important Renaissance church in Switzerland. Especially noteworthy are the facades, Mary's altar (with a relief panel dating from 1500), and the souls' altar.
From St. Leodegarstrasse, which runs directly from in front of the Bucherer shop, the road cuts east to broad steps, which lead up to the Hofkirche.
This grand structure is dedicated to St. Leodegar, or St. Leger. The Romanesque church, which then replaced the monastery in the late 12th century, was burned to the ground on Easter Sunday 1633; the blaze reputedly sparked by the verger’s careless shooting at birds. Only its twin towers escaped. The main doors are carved with the two patron saints of Luzern: on the left is St Leger, a French bishop who was blinded with a drill (which he is holding), and on the right is St Maurice, the martyred Roman soldier-saint.
The interior design and furniture are almost original Renaissance from the 1630s and 1640s, rarely found in Swiss or European churches. A large proportion of which underwent renovation and embellishment during the later Baroque period. Elaborate pews are divided into individual seats, which were reserved for city councillors, while the plainer pews on the left were for the rank and file. Behind the exceptionally fine choir screen – one of the earliest examples of a strong 3-D perspective used to draw the congregation’s attention forward – is the high altar in black marble, flanked by statues of the two patron saints. Above the Italianate depiction of the Agony at Gethsemane is a half-length figure of God. The carved choir stalls, as well as the beautiful pulpit, are the work of Niklaus Geissler. Against the north wall (left) is the extraordinarily lavish Death of the Virgin altar, showing Mary on a bed surrounded by disciples. Dating from around 1500, this was the only relic to survive the 1633 fire. The mighty organ, bedecked in ornaments, feature 2,826 pipes, along with a machine to mimic the sound of rain and a special register for thunder and hail.
The church is set amidst a lovely Italianate cloister, lined with the graves of Luzerner patrician families (who continue to be buried here to this day). Old houses all around the church still serve as the homes for canons of the parish. Just west of the church is the ancient Rothenburgerhaus, a teetering pile that’s generally held to be one of the oldest wooden townhouses in the country, dating from about 1500. On the slopes north of the church is the old cemetery, now a public park.
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