Ettingen - Flüh - Landskron - Mariastein -Flüh

The still well-preserved ruins of Landskron Castle transport you back to the past and are an impressive reminder of medieval times. As well as the wonderful castle complex itself—which lies in French territory in the commune of Leymen—it is worth visiting for the amazing views.

Sources
https://www.top10-baselland.ch/en/schloesser/landskron
http://www.sites-vauban.org/Landskron,706
https://www.lunetoile.com/2016/08/23/chateau-du-landskron-leymen-68/
http://www.isundgau.com/le-chateau-de-landskron/


Mariastein Abbey (Kloster Mariastein) is a Benedictine monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.

Mariastein, after Einsiedeln, is the second most important place of pilgrimage in Switzerland since the late 14th century. Over the Chapel of Grace ("Gnadenkapelle") now stands a late Gothic three-aisled basilica. The interior is Baroque and the entrance facade classicist.
A Maria chapel “im Stein” (in stone) was first documented in 1434. It was a rock chapel. The cave (the Gnadenkapelle) is still visited today.
Pilgrims travel to the site from throughout Switzerland and neighbouring countries, and include members of a range of ethnic groups living in Switzerland (Albanians, Italians, Filipinos, Portuguese, Slovakians, Spanish and Tamils). Even some Hindu Tamils make the pilgrimage to Mariastein.
Mariastein is a sacred place for the Hindus living in Switzerland, since ‹Maria im Stein› represents the dark life-in-death goddess Kali, whom she venerates here. It is believed that the cave facing the rising sun was already a cult place in pre-Christian times.

In the middle of the 17th century, the Benedictine monks from Beinwil (canton Solothurn) moved their monastery to Mariastein. (See Swiss Spectator of 9 July 2021, The Beinwil Monastery).

The monastery and church of Mariastein in Metzerlen (Solothurn Canton) was built between 1636 and 1655. The church of the new Benedictine monastery was consecrated on 31 October 1655.

At first, the late Gothic style found its way. However, between 1830 and 1834, the façade and the church tower were erected in the classicist style. The church was decorated and painted in the neo-baroque style between 1900 and 1934. The design of the cloister square in 1997 is by Ludwig Stocker (1932).

On 5 July 1926, Pope Pius XI (1857-1939) raised the monastery church to the status of Basilica Minor.

The monastery has an eventful history. In March 1798, the French general Balthasar von Schauenberg (1748-1831) entered Mariastein, destroyed the monastery and sold its possessions. The ruined abbey was repurchased in 1802 by Abbot Hieronymus Brunner (1739-1804).

However, the Solothurn canton and the federal government wanted to keep and bring economic life under strict control and a special tax impoverished the monastery. Two monks stayed and religious life and pilgrimage continued in the Catholic canton.

The rest of the monastery moved to Delle (France) but had to leave France in 1901. The monks moved the monastery to Bregenz (Austria). In 1941, the Gestapo forced the Benedictines to leave their monastery.

The Canton of Solothurn permitted the monks to return to the monastery. On 21 June 1971, the canton finally handed over a document that sealed the complete return of the abbey to the Benedictine Order.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariastein_Abbey
https://www.mythische-orte.eu/mariastein/?lang=en
https://www.kloster-mariastein.ch/en/
https://www.swiss-spectator.ch/deutsch-kloster-mariastein-und-seine-wechselhafte-geschichte/