Central, Zürich
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Central is a
public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
at the northern end of
Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' () is a street in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Zurich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''Altstadt (Zürich), Altstadt'', or historical core, of the c ...
in
Zürich, Switzerland Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. It is one of the city's public transport nodes, housing an interchange station for
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
and
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
lines run by the
Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) is a public transport operator in the Swiss city of Zurich, and is wholly owned by the city. Previously known as the Städtische Strassenbahn Zürich (StStZ), the organisation was founded in 1896 and adopted its c ...
. 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, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...
, 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, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...
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 ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
. 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 Zurich
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
lines , , , , and , and VBZ
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
lines and provide public transportation. The Polybahn also still operates over its original route. Private road transport towards
Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' () is a street in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Zurich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''Altstadt (Zürich), Altstadt'', or historical core, of the c ...
, the largest pedestrian zone of Zurich, 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 Zurich, Switzerland. Its name ''Urania'' refers to the muse of astronomy in Greek mythology. It features a restaurant (main building) and a bar with panoramic view (tower). ...
) at the site of the former
Oetenbach nunnery Oetenbach was a Dominican Order, Dominican nunnery in the medieval Municipalities of the canton of Zürich, municipality of Zürich in Switzerland. Oetenbach was named after the small stream of the same name at its first location at Zürichhorn, s ...
. 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.


References


External links

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