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Aescher-Wildkirchli

Wildkirchli , canton of Appenzell, Switzerland

 

The name may be translated into "little church in the wilderness", is a huge cave ruin in the southeast flank of the Ebenalp mountain. It was used for several hundred years, by shepards staying there with their herds and sometimes as a church.

All in all there are various caves summarized under the term Wildkirchli or Aescher Wildkirchli. They are located at about 1,500m asl. A small wooden church is built into one entrance of the cave.

The Wildkirchli caves were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century, between 1903 and 1908, by the St. Gallen archaeologist Emil Bächler (1868-1950). He was first looking for bones of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) which he found, but then he discovered

 

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Uploaded on October 14, 2014
Taken on May 24, 2014