Print from steel engraving titled Rapperschvill (Lac de Zurich), published in a volume of L'Univers Pittoresque, Paris, approx. page size 19.5 x 12.5 cm, approx. image size 14  x 9 cm, nice hand coloring.

Rapperswil

Rapperswil (short: Rappi) is a former municipality and since  January 2007 part of the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the Wahlkreis  (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, located  at the east side of the Lake Zurich.

Tourist attractions

The town's main sights are concentrated in the Altstadt of Rapperswil and can be  seen while strolling through the medieval alleys. The main sights of Rapperswil  are its rose gardens, Rapperswil Castle, the reconstructed wooden bridge to  Hurden with its bridge chapel Heilig Hüsli located at Seedamm, the  Kapuzinerkloster (Capuchin's monastery), the remains of the Middle Ages  fortifications located on Lake Zürich, Lindenhof hill, Herrenberg, Engelplatz,  Hauptplatz, Bühlerallee and Fischmarktplatz at Rapperswil harbour.

Rapperswil is often referred to as the "town of roses" (Rosenstadt) because of  its extensive displays of roses in three designated parks. No less than 15,000  plants of 600 different kinds may be viewed between June and October. There is  also a rose garden in the town center, accessible to blind and disabled people.

The old town (Altstadt) is dominated by the Schloss Rapperswil located at the  peninsula called Endingen, Lindenhof and Herrenberg on Lake Zürich perched atop  this rocky hill at the bay of Kempraten. The castle dates back to the early 13th  century (first mentioned in 1229). In 1350, it was destroyed by Rudolf Brun, the  mayor of Zürich, and was rebuilt in 1352/54 by Albrecht II, Duke of Austria.  Deer inhabit lands surrounding the castle. Since 1870, the castle has been home  to the Polish National Museum created by Polish émigrés, including the castle's  lessee and restorer, Count Wladyslaw Broel-Plater.

A small Capuchin's monastery was established in 1606 at the lakeside  Endingerhorn as a Catholic counterpart to the Reformation's centre in the city  of Zürich. The monastery buildings belong to the citizens of Rapperswil  (Endingen itself belongs to the Einsiedeln Abbey) rather than to the monks who  inhabit it, and is still in use. The main churches in town include the Roman  Catholic St. John's Church (built in early 13th century), the cemetery chapel  (Liebfrauenkapelle) and a small Protestant church.

The locational advantage of the place attracted the national Circus Knie who  built its headquarters in Rapperswil in 1919. The circus is now also responsible  for the Circus Museum and the Knie's Kinderzoo located in Rapperswil which is  particularly aimed at children. Rapperswil also hosts the Hochschule für Technik  Rapperswil HSR (University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil) and an Economics  school for parts of the cantons Zürich and St. Gallen.

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) operates  passenger vessels on the Lake Zürich (Zürichsee), connecting the surrounding  towns between Zürich-Bürkliplatz and the Rapperswil peninsula with its beautiful  harbour area.