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Zwettl is situated at an altitude of 520 m at the mouth of the river Zwettl into the river Kamp in the centre of the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria. The settlement began to develop near a castle that was founded here by Hadmar I of Kuenring around 1100/1120. The first mentioning in a document dates from 1139. Already in 1200, Leopold VI of Babenberg, Duke of Austria and Styria, granted Zwettl the privileges of a town. Duke Friedrich II conquered and demolished the castle in 1231 after the Kuenringer had started a rebellion. Since 1419 Zwettl belonged to the Habsburg family and remained so until 1848. The area of the town was greatly enlarged in 1971 when 13 municipalities were merged to form the modern municipality of Zwettl.

The provost church Sankt Johannes (St. John the Evangelist) [left, no.185: background top centre, barely visible] was the original parish church of Zwettl. It was built between 1100 and 1120 in Romanesque style within the castle precinct. It it the only part of the castle that has survived its destruction.

The city parish church Mariä Himmelfahrt (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) [right, no.812: foreground right] was built in the first half of the 13th century in Late Romanesque style. The late Gothic chancel dates from 1483–1490. The church became the new parish church of Zwettl in 1483.