By Ann
Zurich, with its population of about 400 000 is the biggest city in Switzerland. This charming city combines old districts with the carefully restored historical buildings and contemporary office structures. The city stands between 2 mountains, on the banks of the river Limmat and Zurich Lake.
Zurich was founded in XV century BC, but became a city in X century AD. Its rise began in XIX century when Zurich became a business center. After the foundation of the International Currency Market Zurich occupied the forth place after New York, London and Tokyo.
Zurich is the financial and banking center not only of Switzerland, but also of the whole world. It's the largest (along with London) gold market and a very significant currency market. Due to its huge amount of banks, Zurich is sometimes called "the purse of the world". Head offices of the world's five leading banks are situated on Bahnhofstrasse, the main avenue of Zurich. However, here you can not only store your money deep down in depository. Zurich has a lot of places where one can spend money with the great pleasure.
The above-mentioned Bahnhofstrasse is the most beautiful street in the city and its main shopping artery. Here you can find such big shopping centers as Globus and Jelmoli. Old Zurich is a district with the cozy narrow streets. Along the embankment you can watch baroque style villas. Zurich appearance is manly formed by three main cathedrals on the river banks.
The oldest one, Roman Grossmunster looks like the rock and dates back to the distant times of Karl the Great. Refined Fraumunster is a Gothic style structure with the stained-glass windows by Marc Shagal. Saint Peter's Cathedral is also called "Fat Peter" boasts a clock with the largest face in the whole Europe.
Zurich has rich and saturated cultural life. It can offer its famous Opernhaus am Bellevue and Tonhalle. November is the month of jazz festival in Zurich. This event always attracts a lot of music fans to the city. As for painting, Kunsthaus am Helmplatz exhibits the masterpieces of the leading European masters. The best view of the city opens from the Polyterasse, especially impressive at night. Zurich is one of the main Swiss tourist centers and attracts more than one million of visitors a year. They arrive in the largest airport of Switzerland - Kloten. Zurich has a lot of excellent hotels - one of them is the legendary Savoy. You can think that Zurich is a reserved and conservative city, but it's not so! Its intense night life can be compared with Amsterdam. Zurich is a very picturesque city in its nature too. Zurich Lake adds a unique charm to the city. Its embankment is one of the main places in Zurich.
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