Bellevueplatz

Limmatquai and Quaianlagen in Zürich: Bellevueplatz and Bürkliplatz, Quaibrücke, Münsterbrücke and Münsterhof, and Rathausbrücke–Weinplatz, aerial photography by Eduard Spelterini in the probably mid-1890s.

Bellevueplatz, meaning Bellevue square, is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland. It is named after the Grandhotel Bellevue built in 1856, and is one of nodal points of the road and public transportation, and of the Seeuferanlage promenades that were built between 1881 and 1887.^[1]

Geography

Belleuve is situated at the historical Sechseläutenwiese area, now the Sechseläutenplatz square, in between the Quaibrücke to the east on the Zürichsee lake shore Quaianlagen promenade respectively the effluence of the Limmat river and the Limmatquai road to its north. It is bounded by Theaterstrasse and Utoquai, and Rämistrasse in its east, is situated on the right hand shore of the Limmat river. The square is 300 metres (984 ft) northernly of the Stadelhofen railway station respectively Stadelhoferplatz.

Transportation

The square is one of the nodal poins of the Zürich tram lines 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 15, as well the regional bus lines 912 and 916, as being the border between Rathaus and Hochschulen quarters. Thus, in practice the square may not used in the classical sense as a public square for recreation, thus the adjointed Sechseläutenwiese was rebuilt to 2013 for public use.

Points of interests

In addition to the Sechseläutenplatz and the so-called Seeuferanlage, there is also Café Odeon, where once the writers and the Zürich Bohème met, now a bar-restaurant and a drug store, as well as the Kronenhalle and Vorderer Sternen restaurants, and the Limmatquai and its attractions downstream the Limmat river.

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  Hotel Bellevue

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  fountain sculpture at one of the two drinking fountains at Bellevue

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  Café Odeon, formerly one of the best known meeting points of Zürich's Bohème, Limmatquai/Rämistrasse

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  Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster on occasion of Sechseläuten 2013

There are also two snack bars and a kiosk in the historical tram stop building, a public toilet ZüriWC,^[2] and the ticket store of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund ZVV public transportation company.

History

Located on the then swamp land between Limmat river and Zürichsee around Sechseläutzenplatz on small islands and peninsulas in Zürich, Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the Linth and Jona rivers. Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is located on Zürichsee lakeshore in Enge, a locality of the municipality of Zürich. It was neighbored by the settlements at Kleiner Hafner and Grosser Hafner on a then peninsula respectively island in the effluence of the Limmat river, within an area of about 0.2 square kilometres (49.42 acres) within the city of Zürich. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO Worl Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps,^[3][4] the settlements are also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a Class object.^[5]

First mentioned in 1863, the square was named after the hotel Bellevue, which was built at Limmatquai 1 in 1856 hotel. Despite the official name Bellevueplatz, it is dubbed by the locals usually as ″das″ Bellevue, and is now one of the most important transport hubs in the city, for the public transport as well as to road traffic transportation.^[6] As well as the Bürkliplatz square on the other side of the Quaibrücke, it is also used for Sechseläuten and other public festivals, so the whole traffic operations several times a year have to be stopped.^[7]

See also

• Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee
• Sechseläutenplatz

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bellevue Zürich.

• Dossier Sechseläutenplatz, Tages-Anzeiger (German)