Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedeln Abbey in the canton of Schwyz is Switzerland's most celebrated baroque monument and the country's largest pilgrimage site, drawing around 800,000 visitors a year. The current complex was designed from 1704 by lay brother Caspar Moosbrugger, whose sweeping twin-towered facade and generous forecourt plaza gave the monastery an almost theatrical presence in the alpine foothills. At the heart of the church stands the Chapel of Grace, housing the Black Madonna — a late-Gothic statue whose darkened appearance has been attributed to centuries of candlelight and veneration. The abbey sits on the main Swiss route of the Camino de Santiago and serves as a significant staging point for pilgrims headed toward the Pyrenees. A community of around 40 Benedictine monks continues daily liturgy, Gregorian chant, and a longstanding tradition of monastery theatre.