Töss Monastery

The former Töss Monastery in a drawing by the historian Heinrich Murer (17th century)

Töss Monastery was a community of Dominican nuns located in the former Swiss city of Töss, now a part of Winterthur. Nothing of the original buildings exists today.

Construction of the monastery began in 1233, near the bridge at the Töss River by command of Count Hartmann IV of Kyburg, and continued until 1268. The Swiss mystic Elsbeth Stagel and the Blessed Elizabeth of Hungary, the last member of the House of Árpád, were both nuns of the monastery. This monastic community had a significant influence on Zurich during the Middle Ages but the influence diminished after the start of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland about 1520. The monastery was closed soon thereafter, and the complex deteriorated as the centuries passed.

After the French Revolution, there were not sufficient resources to conserve the complex and the site was sold to Johan Jacob Rieter, who started Rieter Textile there. The former monastery church was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century.

Coordinates: 47°29′16″N 8°42′12″E / 47.487658°N 8.70321°E