Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", from the French ''bellevue'' meaning "beautiful sight") is a

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

built in 1856. Named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, it is one of the nodal points for roads and public transportation in Zürich, as well as an extension of the quaysides in Zürich that were built between 1881 and 1887.

Geography

Bellevue is situated next to the much larger Sechseläutenplatz (Sechseläuten Square) to the south of Bellevue. To the east is the '' Quaibrücke'' (Quay Bridge) on the

Lake Zürich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

shore, next to the outflow of the lake into the

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river Aare. The confluenc ...

. To the north is the

Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' is a street in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the '' Altstadt'', or historical core, of the city. The street was once important ...

, a street running along the riverbank. To the west is Utoquai, a lakefront quay. The square is bound by the streets Theaterstrasse to the east, Rämistrasse to north, and the Schoeckstrasse to the south. The square is about north-west of the

Stadelhofen railway station Stadelhofen is a municipality in the Upper Franconian (German: ''Oberfranken'') district of Bamberg and a member of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Steinfeld. Geography The community lies on the edge of the “Fra ...

Transportation

The square is one of the nodal points of

Zürich tram , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

lines 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 15, as well the regional bus lines 912 and 916, being the border between Rathaus and Hochschulen quarters. The square was not used in the classical sense as a public square for recreation until the adjoining '' Sechseläutenplatz'' was rebuilt in 2013 for public use.

Points of interest

In addition to the '' Sechseläutenplatz'' and quaysides, there is also ''Café Odeon,'' where writers and the Zürich '' Bohème'' would meet, the Kronenhalle and Vorderer Sternen restaurants, and the Limmatquai and other attractions downstream along the Limmat. Zürich - Stadthausquai - Bellevue IMG 0413.jpg, Haus ''Bellevue'' Bellevue Zürich 2011-08-26 18-24-54.jpg, Fountain sculpture at one of the two drinking fountains at Bellevue Zürich - Apotheke-Cafe Odeon IMG 0562 ShiftN.jpg, Café Odeon, formerly one of the best known meeting points of Zürich's Bohème, Limmatquai/Rämistrasse File:2013 Sechseläuten - Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster - Sternen-Coop City - Bellevue 2013-04-15 15-21-36.JPG,

Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster is a guild–like organisation in Zürich, Switzerland, not yet associated with the Zünfte of Zürich as of 2015. History of Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster In medieval times, in Zürich all female and male ''B ...

on occasion of ''Sechseläuten'' 2013 In the historic tram stop building, there are two snack bars and a kiosk, a public toilet ''ZüriWC'', and the ticket store of the

Zürcher Verkehrsverbund The ZVV (German abbreviation for Zürcher Verkehrsverbund, translated into English as Zürich Transport Network or Zürich Traffic Network) is a public transportation system. It combines rail, bus, tram, trolleybus, lake boat, cable car and oth ...

(ZVV) public transportation company.

History

Located on what was once swampland between the Limmat and Lake Zürich,

prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zürich Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich comprises 11 – or 10% of all European pile dwelling sites – of a total of 56 prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps in Switzerland, that are located around Lake Zurich in the cantons ...

were discovered dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. They were built on small islands and peninsulas and set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Swiss river that rises near the village of Linthal in the mountains of the canton of Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee section of Lake Zurich. It is about in length. The water power of the Linth ...

and

Jona Jona may refer to: * Jona, Switzerland, a village of the municipality Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland * Jona (river), in the cantons of Zürich and St. Gallen in Switzerland * Jona (album), ''Jona'' (album), an album by Jona Viray People with the giv ...

Zürich–Enge Alpenquai Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is one of the 111 serial sites of the World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which 56 are located in Switzerland. Geography Located on the then-swampland betw ...

is located on the

lakeshore in Enge, a locality of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Zürich. It was neighbored by similar settlements at

Kleiner Hafner Kleiner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Kleiner Hafner was located on the then swamp land between the ri ...

and

Grosser Hafner Grossner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Grosser Hafner was located on the then swamp area between the L ...

on what was then a peninsula in the effluence of the lake, within an area of about within the present city of Zürich. The settlement sites are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...

, and in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as a ''Class object''. From 1558 to 1562 the round ''Auf Dorf'' bastion with battlements was built at the site of the present Bellevueplatz at the junction of

and Rämistrasse. Structurally, it was connected to the ''Langenöhrlisturm'' of the city fortification, and was originally surrounded almost entirely by the water of Lake Zürich. The bulwark comprised casemates with loopholes and a platform for artillery to defend against attackers on the lake. It complemented the

Bauschänzli Bauschänzli is an artificial island, town square, and public park in Zürich, Switzerland. Bauschänzli (diminutive of "construction entrenchment") is one of the last remains of the Baroque fortifications of Zürich which began in 1642. The nei ...

bastion on the western side of the Limmat, and the medieval Grendeltor, a river gate and customs station that stood on the site of ''Haus Bellevue''. Around 1700, after the construction of embankments, the bulwark lost its original function. Equipped with a solid roof, the area served as a salt house. Until 1795 the construction of a new seawall was carried out, and at the ''Kohlepörtli'' gate, goods were transhipped between Lake Zürich and Limmat. Remains from the c. 1830 demolition were discovered on occasion of road works in March 2015. First mentioned in 1863, the square was named after the hotel Bellevue, which was built at ''Limmatquai 1'' in 1856. In mid-October 1937, Hermann Herter's design for the ''Bellevue-Rondell'', to replace an old station concourse, was under construction at the square. While the heavy iron canopy was being raised a hoist broke and a worker fell to the ground with the structure. There were no injuries. Despite the official name ''Bellevueplatz'', it is often dubbed by the locals as ''das Bellevue'', and is now one of the most important transport hubs in the city, for public transport as well as road traffic. Like the '' Bürkliplatz'' square on the opposite side of the Quaibrücke, Bellevueplatz is used for ''

Sechseläuten The ''Sechseläuten'' (Zürich German: ''Sächsilüüte'', "The six o'clock ringing of the bells") is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich celebrated in its current form, usually on the 3rd Monday of April, since the early 2 ...

'' and other public festivals, so traffic operations have to be stopped several times each year.

Renewal

Bellevueplatz was renovated between March and 25 October 2015, with minor corrections in November 2015, during which the tram lines were redirected from June to mid-August. The edges of the tram tracks are designed to not cause obstruction, and the tracks at Rämistrasse between Café Odeon and Quaibrücke were rearranged and separated from bicycle lanes. As part of the road renewal works, the pedestrian crossings from Bellevue to Utoquai and from Sechseläutenplatz to Utoquai have been provided with a protective island that is tactilely detectable for visually impaired people.

References