Paxmal Peace Monument - Walenstadtberg, Switzerland

A couple of weekends ago we were feeling a little lazy and decided to go out and and take advantage of the nice weather. Since relocating to Buchs, St Gallen; we are still exploring this area of Switzerland and finding new things to see and do. 
Paxmal is the perfect afternoon out, located halfway up a mountain, the hairpin-riddled drive is not for the faint hearted! 
When you reach the top there is clear signage for where to park and where to start walking, it looks just like your typical mountain hike until you get to the edge and see this view...

Pretty impressive right? More impressive was that, to the left of this photo, was a bunch of crazy people running, jumping and parasailing of this mountain and landing somewhere down by the lake! 
After picking our jaws up off the gravel path we continued on our Sunday stroll, the path winds down to a very tiny and very cute hamlet..

HOW CUTE?! I swear the doors were like 4 foot high!! following the little path down I felt as though I was in some kind of children's storybook, it really is one of the most beautiful areas we have explored in this country, it has such a magical feeling it almost makes you want to dress like a nun and sing and dance with 7 children dressed in curtains. 
The path leads down to some stone stairs and around a corner and bam! Paxmal is right there, It kind of hits you in the face as you expect a little more of a walk but the impact of this monument is overwhelming...

The outer walls, a mosaic of earth and natural inspired tones are representative of life on earth: being, love and procreation and spiritual life: awakening, struggling, pondering and rising. We were lucky enough to be the only ones there so we wandered around, slowly taking in the surroundings and appreciating the carefully constructed scenes.

The monument was built between 1924 and 1949 by Karl Bickel and serves as a place of meditation and peace. Karl Bickel was a Swiss Artist and Graphic Designer, there is a museum dedicated to his life and works in Walenstadt (website here)

My favourite scene, A family of deer.

The monument is located approximately 1300m above sea level and shares the same spectacular view as the parasailing site. The is also a hiking trail to climb further up the mountain where there is a viewing point and a restaurant, therefore It is a definite must visit for the summer! If you want to check it out, the address of the location is listed just above the comments box - leave me a comment if you visit it and tell me what you think! 

Thank you for reading! Yasmin x