Flueli-Ranft

Nicholas of Flue was a farmer, soldier and magistrate in Obwalden who at fifty left his wife and ten children, with their agreement, to live as a hermit in the Ranft gorge below his farm. He stayed nineteen years and is recorded as eating almost nothing. In 1481, with the Confederation close to breaking apart over the admission of the city cantons at the Diet of Stans, envoys came to him and his counsel is credited with producing the compromise that held it together - which is why he is the country's patron saint. His farmhouse at Flueli, the birth house nearby and the two chapels in the gorge are all preserved and can be visited, reached by a path down from the village.

The main sights

• The gorge hermitage - the cell and chapels where he lived nineteen years.
• His farmhouse at Flueli - the home he left, still standing.
• The 1481 intervention - the counsel credited with saving the Confederation.
• A path down and back up - the descent into the Ranft.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

What to expect

The gorge path is steep in both directions. Buildings are small and plain - this is a devotional site, not a grand one. Chapels may be closed outside opening hours. It remains an active pilgrimage place.

Nearby

Sachseln, where he is buried, is below; Lucerne is north.