Glarus

Capital of the Swiss canton of Glarus, situated on the River Linth at the foot of the Glärnisch Massif (height 2,700 m/8,858 ft); population (1995) 5,600.

From 1506 to 1516 the religious reformer Ulrich Zwingli was the resident priest in Glarus. The town was completely destroyed by a fire fanned by a violent föhn wind in 1861.

As in some other Swiss towns, an annual occurrence in Glarus is the yearly Landsgemeinde, or regional assembly, at which the local government officials and the cantonal representatives to the Swiss Federal Assembly are elected.