Gallus Chapel
Encyclopedia
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
in the municipality of Greifensee, Canton of Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Nobleman Hermann IV (the younger Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
) of Landenberg donated, for his salvation and on his wife favour, this chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
around 1330-1340. The triangular building is considered to be the oldest intact Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
monument of the medieval town. Originally, it was integrated into the eastern corner of the city walls
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
as a Wehrkirche (fortified church
Fortified church
Churches have often shown potential to be used for defensive purposes.Europe has a substantial legacy of fortified churches which were used for defensive purposes in time of war...
), repeating in its ground floor the plan of the small town.
In the castle of Greifensee, there is a small chapel dedicated to St Catherine which was built at the same time, given by Hermann IV, too. For centuries, this tiny chapel has been the Parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of the city of Greifensee.