Bern

Bern or Berne centers on a peninsula that the river Aare bends around in the Swiss Plateau in west central Helvetia (Schweiz or Switzerland). It is the de facto national capital and has a metropolitan population of 349 thousand, 132 thousand of which live in the city proper.¹ The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It includes 15th century arcades, 16th century fountains, the cathedral (Münster) that was started in the 15th century and had a bell tower added in the late 19th, patrician's houses, towers, walls, the 13th century Zytglogge (clock tower, lit. 'time bell') and the Bundeshaus (Federal Palace). Beyond the old city are other national buildings dating from 1848 or after including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Historical Museum, the main building of the University of Bern, and the Municipal Theatre (Stadttheater).²

External references

street view toward the Zytglogge of Bern (Berne), Helvetia (Schweiz or Switzerland)

Footnotes

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Switzerland, 2012 figure, accessed 9/13/2013.
2. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010). Also consulted was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern since the UNESCO book did not make it clear which buildings were in the old city.