Hey everyone, I'm Joel on the Road. And today my UNESCO World Heritage Journey is at the
Old City of Bern, in Switzerland.
This is the Old City of Bern, the capital of Switzerland and situated in the north-west
of the country. It's on a long, narrow hill, a peninsula sticking out into a river. And
it's been here for almost a thousand years. Now, a lot of the city burned down in 1405
and was rebuilt in sandstone, and since then not a whole lot has changed. I'm really excited
to go exploring, so let's take a look.
So we're here on the riverfront in Bern, and there is of course, naturally, a giant bear
enclosure, with three bears. Which seems really odd until you remember that the bear is of
course the emblem of the city.
So this is the portico of the main cathedral here in Bern, and these figures behind me
are mostly original, and they date from around the 1470s when the cathedral was still being
built. It's this enormous sculpture of the Last Judgement, and unfortunately it's about
all that's left of the church's artworks, because most of it was destroyed during the Reformation.
One of the cool things about Bern is that the whole city is just dotted with Renaissance-era
fountains, like the one you can see behind me. Originally public drinking fountains,
they were capped with statues that have allegorical meanings like Moses, Sampson, Lady Justice,
or strangely, the one behind me is an ogre eating a baby.
Behind me you can see the zeitglock, and it's one of the most famous symbols of the city
of Bern. It's been here, originally part of the city walls, since 1220, although the current
facade is from around 1770, and it's one of the oldest clocks in Switzerland. What's interesting
about it is that in addition to telling you the hours, minutes and seconds, it also has
an astronomical clock, so it tells you things like the day, the month, and the season.
Behind me you can see Untertorbrucke, and it's the oldest bridge in Bern. The original
bridge was built in the 1250s, but it was wiped out by a flood a couple of hundred years
later. This bridge was finished in 1490, and it hasn't really changed since then.
It's just such a beautiful World Heritage city here, you've got the swiftly-flowing
river, and some mountains in the background, pine trees, and of course all of the beautiful
buildings as well. Very well deserving of World Heritage status. But that's it from
me, thank you very much for watching. Don't forget to Like and Subscribe, I'm Joel on
the Road, and I'll see you at the next World Heritage site.