Construction of Abbey of Saint Gall

The Abbey of Saint Gall was a Benedictine monastery in what is now the Swiss city of St Gallen, named after Gallus, an Irish monk who is said to have lived as a hermit in the area. The abbey was established in the early eighth century by Othmar, and it became one of the great centres of learning of the early Middle Ages. Its library, which still exists, holds ancient manuscripts, including a famous ninth-century plan of an ideal monastery, the Plan of St Gall. The abbots ruled a considerable territory as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The monastery was dissolved after the upheavals of the French Revolutionary period, and the abbey precinct, with its baroque cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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