de Berne. Cette vaste terrasse aménagée
sur la rive de l'Aar est une réalisation
impressionnante du génie civil du bas
Moyen Âge. Depuis 1531, elle sert de
promenade.

Bern began building a platform terrace
as wide as it is today to serve as a place
of burial in 1334, almost 100 years
before the Minster was built. The eastern
flank has been preserved to this day.
Between 1479 and 1531 the platform
was extended to the west by one third,
to its current size, and then elevated and
renovated. In 1528, during the Reforma-
tion, the iconoclasts dumped the
shattered sculptures into the filled
ground; important sculptural stonework
was subsequently recovered in 1986
from a depth of 14 m. These works are
now at the Historical Museum of Bern.
The spacious terrace built out over the
slope of the Aare river is an impressive
feat of late mediaeval engineering. The
platform has been used as a promenade
since 1531.

United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization

Old City of Berne
inscribed on the World
Heritage List in 1983