| |||||
|
Arts & Entertainment Books Comics Health & Body Media Mothers Who Think News People Politics2000 Technology - Free Software Project  Travel & Food Columnists
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - Also Today For a full list of today's Salon Travel stories, go to the
Travel home page. - - - - - - - - - - - - Search Salon - - - - - - - - - - - - Salon Columnists - - - - - - - - - - - - Recently in Salon Travel Column Wanderlust - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Swiss secrets
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Feb. 9, 2000 |
Mountains have always fascinated people. The ancient Greeks
believed that their gods lived on Mount Olympus and most of the
Greek city-states built their temples on mountains, as did
ancient cultures in Asia and South America. Mountains were also a
good spot for meteorological and geological observations, and to
check out your neighbors. A 20-minute paddle-boat trip along the lake from the Swiss city of
Lucerne will put you in the town of Kriens at the foot of Mount
Pilatus, one of Switzerland's most-visited mountains. The
steepest rack railway in the world will take you to the top,
which is 7,000 feet above sea level. Pilatus is a major tourist attraction, but that has not always
been the case. For centuries local residents believed that
Pilatus was inhabited by dragons and that if disturbed, they
would send down storms and great floods. Visits to the top were
forbidden. Fireballs and flame-throwing dragons made regular
appearances on Pilatus and were described in great detail by
leading physicians and scientists -- which gives you some idea of
what medicine was like at the time.
Even shepherds were placed under oath not to approach the dark waters of the lake that sits just below the peak. There were rumors that the Roman governor Pontius Pilate was buried in the lake and his tormented spirit would surface every year on Good Friday, in a vain attempt to wash Christ's blood from his hands. But not everything that came from the dragons was evil. A stone called Draconite was believed to be formed in a dragon's brain and to pop out of its mouth during flight. There were nine types of dragon stones, ranging from the Draconites carbunculus, about the size of a peanut, to the Draconius lapis lucenenis, which was as big as a goose egg. Drawings from the 1600s indicate that these were all extremely heavy for their size, with gold-colored flecks interconnected with filigreed veins. Dragon stones were thought to have the power to protect against plague, revive tired blood and under certain conditions, inspire individuals much like Viagra. The dragons themselves also appear to have had a hospitable side -- witness the following account: One autumn, a cooper (barrel-maker) was foraging on Pilatus for tree branches, to make hoops for his barrels. He stumbled and fell headlong into a deep cave, coming to rest between two female dragons, who were pleased by his arrival and offered him a dragon stone. He soon became hungry. Observing how the dragons repeatedly licked at a particular boulder in the cave, he did likewise and so nourished himself throughout the winter. When spring arrived, one dragon flew away from her winter lair. The other circled cajolingly around the cooper, as if to persuade him that it was time to depart. She crept to the mouth of the cave and hoisted the cooper out by the tip of her tail. Thus rescued, the cooper returned home to his family. He showed his gratitude by having the story of his rescue embroidered onto a cloth -- which to this day remains in St. Leodegar's Church in Lucerne. Sigmund Freud would have loved that story, and you've got to hand it to the cooper for one of the all-time great excuses for not coming home on time. In 1585 a parish priest from Lucerne and a courageous group of parishioners ascended Pilatus and challenged every pond and cave where the dragons were thought to dwell. They threw rocks into the lake, and churned its surface with a cross. The expected counter-offensive by the dragons failed to materialize. The priest and the courageous citizens returned to Lucerne and announced that the spell had been broken, the spirits were at peace and tourist trips to the peak (at a modest fee) could begin. The dragons were Swiss and knew a good business when they saw one. Pilatus can be reached year-round from the town of Kriens by panoramic gondolas and an aerial tramway. The cogwheel railway runs from May through mid-December. For additional information, visit the Pilatus Web site.
| ||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
Next page |