Our 26 Cantons Tour of Switzerland had us on the French side this past weekend visiting Solothurn. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The main attraction we were told is the Solothurn Cathedral of St. Ursus. It is quite impressive and we learnt that Solothurn has a special affinity for the number eleven.
The Canton of Solothurn was the eleventh to become part of the Swiss Confederation. There are eleven churches and chapels, as well as eleven historical fountains and eleven towers. The St. Ursus cathedral has eleven altars and eleven bells, and the stairs in front of the cathedral have levels between every eleven steps.
A local brewery has even named itself Öufi, which is Swiss German for eleven, and produces a beer with the same name, but as it was only eleven o’clock in the morning Liam skipped the beer and we opted to buy their cake specialty from Suteria who have been making the exquisite Original Solothurn Cake in their confectionery at 20 Schmiedengasse in Solothurn for over a 100 years.
They have not waivered form the original recipe of its creator, Albert Studer. Melt-in-your-mouth hazelnut meringue with a seductively light cream filling, prepared fresh every day with choice ingredients. If you are visiting Solothurn you will definitely want to try it, as well as aim to arrive on a Saturday as their morning market was very festive, especially as many of the stall owners were decked out in tradtional medieval dress.
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