The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of commo
1550 illustration for the Sempacherbrief of 1393, one of the major alliance contracts of the Old Swiss Confederacy
The Devil's bridge, first built in the 13th century, completed the road over the St. Gotthard Pass. A stone bridge from the 1500s was damaged by war and later destroyed by a flood in 1888. This photo shows a second stone bridge, built in 1826, and above it a third bridge from 1958.
The Federal Charter of 1291
Illustration from the late fifteenth century of the Battle of Laupen. The confederate forces are on the right.
The canton of Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss
Suvorov Crossing the St. Gotthard Pass, an Alexander Kotzebue painting
Historical banner, traditionally[clarification needed] dated to the Battle of Sempach (1386), kept in the town-hall of Altdorf.