2 Best Sights in Luzern and Central Switzerland, Switzerland

A shrine to Wilhelm Tell, the church is adjacent to the Tellsplatte, which was the rocky ledge onto which Tell, the rebellious archer, leaped to escape from Gessler's boat, pushing the boat back into the stormy waves as he jumped. Built in 1500, it was restored in High Victorian fashion in 1881. It contains four frescoes of the Tell legend (painted at the time of restoration), showing the taking of the oath at Rütli Meadow, Tell shooting the apple on his son's head, Tell's escape, and Gessler's death.

On the town square, facing the Pfarrkirche St. Peter und St. Paul, stands this 19th-century monument to Arnold von Winkelried, a native of Stans who died while leading the Swiss Confederates to victory over the Austrians at the battle of Sempach in 1386. The Austrians, armed with long spears, formed a Roman square so that the Swiss, wielding axes and halberds, couldn't get in close enough to do any damage. Shouting, "Forward, confederates, I will open a path!" von Winkelried threw himself on the spears, clasping as many of them as he could to his breast and creating an opening for his comrades.