Central is a

public 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 geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

or ''plaza'' at the northern end of

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 f ...

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

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 ...

. It is one of the city's nodal points for road and public transportation. It was formerly known as Leonhardplatz or Leonhardsplatz.

Geography

Central is in fact outside of the historical core of the medieval town of Zürich, previously the Celtic-Roman ''Turicum''. It is situated at the right-hand (eastern) bank of 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 confluen ...

, the principal river flowing through the city of Zürich. It is opposite of the

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof (often shortened to Zürich HB, or just HB; ''Zürich Main Station'' or ''Zürich Central Station'') is the largest railway station in Switzerland. Zürich is a major railway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland ...

and connected by Bahnhofbrücke, a road and tramway bridge crossing the Limmat, and connecting ''Rathaus'' and ''Lindenhof'' respectively the ''City'' and ''Unterstrass'' quarters. Situated nearby the historical Neumarkt and Niederdorf, the most remarkable landmark is the Prediger church. The former ''Leonhardplatz'' is named after the ''Central'' hotel situated there. The ''Seilergraben'', ''Weinbergstrasse'', ''Neumühlequai'' and ''Stampfenbachstrasse'' gather at the square. Redesigns of the Central–Bahnhofbrücke area occurred in 1950/51.

Transportation

Leonhardsplatz, as it was known then, first became a node in Zürich's transport system in 1889, when the Polybahn funicular was opened up the hill to the ''Polytechnikum'', the present

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

. In 1897, the Strassenbahn Zürich-Oerlikon-Seebach (ZOS) company made Leonhardsplatz the city terminus of their suburban tram line via Stampfenbachstrasse and Schaffhauserstrasse to Oerlikon and Seebach. Passengers were required to change at Leonhardsplatz for the separate city tramway system until 1931, when the ZOS was taken over by the Städtische Strassenbahn Zürich, who operated the city's trams. Today, the

Zürich tram 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 ...

lines 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 and 15, and VBZ bus lines 31 and 46 provide public transportation. The Polybahn also still operates over its original route. Private road transport towards Limmatquai, the largest pedestrian zone of Zürich, is restricted to the short roadway towards the Brun bridge and ''Uraniastrasse'' (

Urania Sternwarte Urania Sternwarte is a public observatory in the Lindenhof quarter of Zürich, Switzerland. Its name ''Urania'' refers to the muse of astronomy in Greek mythology. History Its origins base on a first observatory on the roof of the Zunfthaus ...

) at the site of the former

Oetenbach nunnery Oetenbach was a Dominican nunnery in the medieval municipality of Zürich in Switzerland. Oetenbach was named after the small stream of the same name at its first location at Zürichhorn, situated outside of the European Middle Ages town walls, but ...

. Since 25 September 2004, the driving of motor vehicles, motorcycles and scooters is forbidden, except for goods transport, traffic towards Weinplatz, postal delivery services, and doctors and emergency services.

Literature

* ''Das Limmatquai vor und nach der Neugestaltung. Aufenthaltsnutzung, Fuss- und Veloverkehrsaufkommen im Vergleich der Jahre 2004-2005-2008''. Published by Tiefbau- und Entsorgungsdepartement der Stadt Zürich, Zürich 2009.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Zurich Altstadt (Zürich) Streets in Zürich Squares in Zürich