Busskirch is a village (''Kirchdorf'') within the

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

Rapperswil-Jona Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, Rapperswil-Jona also includes Bollinge ...

in the

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen or St Gall ( ; ; ; ) is a canton of Switzerland. Its capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of (5% of Switzerland) and a resident population close to half a million as of ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Geography

The village is located along the northern shore of the ''Obersee'' lakeshore between Jona and

Bollingen Bollingen is a village () within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. Geography The village is located along the northern shore of the upper Lake Zürich (''Obersee'') between Jona and Schmerikon. Bollingen ...

. Busskirch was part of the former municipality of Jona: On January 1, 2007, the former municipalities of

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

and Jona merged to form the new political entity

History

Roman era

Beginning in the 1st century A.D., Busskirch was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

lakeside settlement that served as a stage town on the intersection of the streets to

Kempraten Kempraten-Lenggis is a village (''Kirchdorf'') within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The remains of the Gallo-Roman settlement ''Centum Prata'' are on ...

(Latin: ''

Centum Prata Centum Prata is the name of a Roman ''vicus'' on the eastern shore of Lake Zurich, whose remains are located in Kempraten (to which the vicus lends its name) in the municipality Rapperswil-Jona, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Centum Prata ...

'') respectively Zürich (''

Turicum Turicum was a Gallo-Roman settlement at the lower end of Lake Zurich, and precursor of the city of Zurich. It was situated within the Roman province of Germania Superior) and near the border to the province of Raetia; there was a tax-collecting p ...

''), Winterthur (''

Vitudurum Vitudurum (sometimes Vitodorum) is the name of a Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman ''vicus'', whose remains are located in Oberwinterthur, a locality of the Municipalities in the canton of Zürich, municipality of Winterthur in the canton of Zü ...

'') and to

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

(''Curia Rhaetorum'') respectively on the waterway

Walensee Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus. Its na ...

–

Zürichsee Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

to Rome's

alpine route Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National ...

St. Martin Busskirch church

Busskirch is first mentioned in 842/843 A.D. as ''Fossonas ecclesiam'', in 854 as ''Fussinchirichun'' and in 1209 as ''Buschilche''. «''A little church dreaming on the lake''» wrote Pius Rickenmann, a poet from Rapperswil, in his poem ''Busskirch''. The early medieval

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of ''St. Martin Busskirch'' with its cemetery rests on the remains of a Roman building (1st to 4th century A.D.). Beginning in the 8th century, the village belonged to the Pfäfers Abbey. Busskirch is one of the oldest churches around the Lake Zürich. Even the citizens of

had to attend services in Busskirch until Count Rudolf II of Rapperswil built his own church and a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

next to

Rapperswil Castle Rapperswil Castle (Swiss German: ''Schloss Rapperswil'') is a castle, built in the early 13th century by the House of Rapperswil, in the formerly independent city of Rapperswil. The castle is located on the eastern Lake Zurich's western Obersee ...

in 1253. In 1351 ''St. Martin Busskirch'' was incorporated by the monastery (until 1838). In co-operation with Jona the settlement formed an ''Allmendgenossenschaft'' (farmer's association), reigned by the

Counts of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, ...

, latter by the city of Rapperswil. In 1253 the parish churches of Rapperswil (''St. John's Church'') and Jona were established: ''St. Martin Busskirch'' lost its former importance and was in 1945 integrated in the Roman Catholic parish Rapperswil.

Points of interest

''St. Martin Busskirch'' Church, which due to its idyllic lakeside location is very popular for weddings, is a remarkable landmark on the upper Lake Zürich shore. Today visitors can see the Roman ruins excavated in 1975 underneath Busskirch church. Restaurant ''Seegartenkeller'' next to ''St. Martin'' church is a popular touristic destination.

Jona (river) The Jona is a river in the Swiss cantons of Zürich and St. Gallen, forming partly their mutual border, and one of the main tributaries of '' Obersee'', Lake Zurich. Geography The Jona rises on the eastern slope of Bachtel mountain near Gi ...

forms a small

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

near Busskirch and flows at ''Stampf'' lido in the upper Lake Zurich (''Obersee'').

Transportation

Between Busskirch and

respectively Jona there is a busline, provided by ''Verkehrsbetriebe

Zürcher Oberland The Zürcher Oberland ("Zürich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zürich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the di ...

References

Literature

* Eugen Halter: ''Geschichte der Gemeinde Jona''. Schweizer Verlagshaus, Zürich 1970.

External links

Rapperswil-Jona
(official site) * {{authority control Villages in the canton of St. Gallen Former municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen Archaeological sites in Switzerland Rapperswil-Jona Populated places on Lake Zurich