Basel Minster

Basel Minster (German: Basler Münster) is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Roman Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church. The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic styles. The late Romanesque building, destroyed by the 1356 Basel earthquake, was rebuilt by Johannes Gmünd, who was at the same time employed for building the Freiburg Münster. Ulrich von Ensingen, architect of the towers at Ulm Minster and Strasbourg Cathedral, extended the building from 1421. Hans Nußdorf completed the southern Martinstower (after St.Martin) in 1500. One of the main landmarks and tourist attractions of Basel, it adds definition to the cityscape with its red sandstone architecture and coloured roof tiles, its two slim towers and the cross-shaped intersection of the main roof. The Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance lists the Münster as a heritage site of national significance.