Skip to main content

4268 - St. Gallen, Switzerland

St. Gallen has ancient roots dating back to Saint Gallus. Gallus was an Irish missionary and hermit who established himself by the river Steinach in 612. A monastery on the site was founded in c720 by Saint Othmar. It prospered in the 9th century and became a site of pilgrimage and a centre of trade, along with one of the first monastery schools north of the Alps. By the 10th century, a settlement had grown up around the abbey. 

In 926, Magyar raiders attacked the abbey and surrounded the town. Saint Wiborada reportedly saw a vision of the impending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. They heeded her call, but she herself remained behind and was killed by the Magyar's. She later became the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican. 

The oldest football club in Switzerland and second oldest in continental Europe, FC St. Gallen, play here. They play in the Swiss Super League. They were founded in 1879. They have had relatively little success and usually finish in the middle of the table. They did win the Swiss championship twice - 1903-04 and 1999-2000. Despite that the club enjoys great support at home and away games. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

3566 - Bakhmach, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Bakhmach is locarted in northern Ukraine. I'm taking this next paragraph straight out of Wikipedia: During the  Russian invasion of Ukraine  on February 26, 2022, at least 65 units of Russian military equipment moved through Bakhmach, with about a hundred more on the outskirts. Local residents tried to stop the convoy on their own by blocking tank tracks with makeshift objects and convincing Russian soldiers not to move towards  Kyiv . One man attempted to climb onto a tank and block the road with his body (he was not hurt). However, the military equipment continued to move, and Russian forces fired several shots into the air. Слава Україні!

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

A wonderful message on this card that translates to to those wh o can wait, everything comes with time.

2352 - Cologne (Köln), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is home to the twelve Romanesque churches. All are Catholic churches and all are found in Altstadt (old town). All were severely damaged during the 262 Allied air raids on Cologne. All twelves have been restored. St. Andreas was consecrated in 974. The crypt of the church as a sarcophagus that dates back to the third century and it holds the remains of St. Albertus Magnus, who died in 1280. St. Apostein was consecrated in the 800s. St. Cecilia was built in the 800s and it the current home of the Schnutgen Museum for Medieval Art. It still holds Catholic Mass on rare occasions.  St. Georg's was built near the end of 1000s. It was extensively restored after the Second World War. St. Gerion's was established in 612. St. Kunibert was consecrated in 1247. Cunibert, the 9th Bishop of Cologne, is buried here. St. Maria im Kapital was built between 1040-1065. It was also heavily damaged during the war and restoration was finally completed in 1984.  St. Maria Lyskirchem is the ...