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Solothurn is situated at an altitude of 439 m on the river Aare in the southern foothills of the Jura mountains of northwestern Switzerland. Solothurn is the capital of the canton of the same name and has a population of about 15,100 (2004).

The Celtic Salodurum was founded between AD 14 and 37 during the reign of the roman emperor Tiberius. According to the legend, two soldiers of the 'Theban Legion', Ursus and Victor, in 303 died as martyrs in this place. They are today venerated as the patron saints of Solothurn. The St. Ursenstift monastery was founded in 932 by Queen Bertha of Burgundy. Around 1033 Solothurn obtained the status of a town, and in 1218 it became a Free Imperial City. In 1481 Solothurn joined the Old Swiss Confederacy. During the Reformation, 1523–1533, Solothurn remained Catholic. Since 1530 the city was the residence of the French Ambassadors to Switzerland who kept their residence here until 1792. One of the sobriquets of Solothurn thus became 'the Ambassador City'. The Catholic bishops of Basel had moved their residence to Porrentruy (Pruntrut) in 1527/1529 after Basel had joined the Reformation. They remained in Porrentruy until 1828 when they finally moved the seat of the diocese to Solothurn.

The cathedral of St. Ursus [background left] is the seat of the bishops of Basel. The church goes back to the monastery that had been founded in 870 AD. When the tower of the prior church had collapsed in 1762, the architect Gaetano Matteo Pisoni from Ascona was charged with the construction of a new church. The construction of the Classicist church began in 1762 and was completed by his nephew Paolo Antonio Pisani in 1773. The church at that time served as church of the canons' monastery and as parish church. In 1828 it became the new seat of the bishops of Basel.

The Palais Besenval [foreground left] on the bank of the river Aare was built in 1701–1706 for the mayor Johann Viktor Besenval. The building was designed by a French architect in the style of French hôtels privés.

In 1980 the city of Solothurn was awarded the Wakker Prize of the Swiss Heritage Society for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage. Other cities that have been awarded this prize and which are depicted on glasses of this collection are: Basel (1996), Bern (1997), Genève (2000), Montreux (1990), Sankt Gallen (1992), Stein am Rhein (1972), Wil (1984).