You could walk right by this place and never know you are missing out on an amazing historic…read morelandmark or beautiful church. The outside is nothing special, but once you walk in, you are quieted by the beauty of the intricate interior. The facade of the Jesuit church was donated by Louis XIV, and is definitely nothing special. The church was built in the Baroque style in the period 1680-1689. The inside was done by Ticino artists, and is known to be one of the best Baroque style pieces in all of Switzerland, and is today a national heritage site. We went inside twice during our visit, and on our second visit were blessed with an amazing opportunity to listen to the historic organ that had recently been renovated. It was an AMAZING experience to hear the organ being played. The organ was built between 1791 and 1794 by Franz Joseph Otter, who was from the Canton Solothurn. It is the only extant instrument manufactured by this organ maker. Definitely worth a stop inside to experience this beautiful place.

Just 20 minutes by foot outside the city centre of Solothurn awaits a storybook real life…read moreexperience of Einsiedelei. You can receive a map from the Solothurn tourism office of the places to see in Solthurn and this is marked as #14. Just a short distance from town, off of St. Niklausstrasse is the start of the trail entitled, meditationsweg, which takes you along a bubbling brook through a pristine fairytale like forest to this hermitage situated in the Verena gorge. Here you will find the hermit house with garden (actually maintained by a hermit), Verena and the Martins Chapel and the Magdalene Mount of Olives and the Grotto. There are maps guiding you along the way, you can make the walk a loop by heading up and through the village of Kreuzen, which has a fantastic restaurant that you can stop and rest at. The entire time I was walking along this path I felt like I had walked into a fairy tale book. One can definitely meditate on life here. This is a definite must see if you are in Solothurn for a visit.