In summer, it is a lance of yellow gold and in winter, it is an angel’s abode, pristine white dusting its every surface and accentuating each curve and corbel on its surface. The Fraumunster’s startling steeple itself sets it apart from its infamous counterpart on the Eastern bank, the Grossmunster. The differences only widen further as you step into the cool, shadowy interiors of the church. Rippling folds of cloth and creased smiles continue to twinkle with life on the walls of the church’s cloister, the handiwork of Paul Bodmer still alive in the frescoes adorning the walls. Head down the extended arm to the north of the nave where you will be exalted by The Heavenly Paradise in stained glass, melted and bridged into harmony by Augusto Giacometti.

Towards the southern transept, the watery light of tinted blue, green and turquoise take visitors for a dip into the ocean. It is here that Marc Chagall’s five part cycle is accompanied by a blooming rosette of blue liquid sand, seeped with spots of crimson and vermillion. Enthralled by the artistic delicacy of the church, don’t miss the organ pipes, all 5793 of them, as they form the largest organ instrument in Zurich. Blocks of stone cut precisely into shape form the impossibly long corridors leading to the crypt museum beneath the choir of the church. Through vivid visual imagery and cracks serving as the city’s raw scars yet to heal, the Reformation in Zurich is recounted as an echoing tale bouncing off the crypt’s walls. A site for more than just religious devotion, the past and unforgettable stories of Zurich are treasured gems to be discovered within the walls of Fraumunster.