Schaffhausen Old Town

Schaffhausen grew rich because boats on the Rhine had to unload here and portage around the falls downstream, and the merchant houses show it: the old town has one hundred and seventy-one oriel windows, bay projections built as status symbols, and facades painted with frescoes, the Haus zum Ritter of the 1570s being the most elaborate. Above the town stands the Munot, a circular fortress built between 1564 and 1585 on a design influenced by Durer's fortification treatise, with a casemate whose vaulting rests on a single central pillar and a ramp wide enough for horses. A watchman still lives in its tower and rings the bell at nine each evening. The Rhine falls are a short way downstream.

What you actually see

• 171 oriel windows - the bay projections merchants built to show standing.
• The Haus zum Ritter - the most elaborate painted facade, from the 1570s.
• The Munot - a circular fortress of 1564-1585 with a single-pillar casemate.
• A watchman still in the tower - the bell rung at nine every evening.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The old town is compact and can be walked in two hours. The Munot ramp is steep. Frescoed facades vary in condition and some are restorations. The city is otherwise industrial and modern.

Nearby

The Rhine Falls are a few kilometres downstream; Stein am Rhein is upstream.