Fribourg, capital of Fribourg canton, Switzerland. It is located on a loop in the Sarine (Saane) River southwest of Bern. Founded in 1157 by Berthold IV, duke of Zähringen, to control a ford across the river, it passed to the sons of Rudolf of Habsburg in 1277. The Habsburgs abandoned it in 1452; it then accepted the suzerainty of the dukes of Savoy. Fribourg assisted the Swiss in defeating Charles the Bold of Burgundy at Grandson and Morat (now Murten) in 1476 and was admitted to full membership in the Swiss Confederation in 1481. Occupied by the French in 1798, Fribourg became part of the Helvetic Republic and then one of the cantons of the Swiss Confederation as reconstituted by Napoleon’s Act of Mediation in 1803.
The oldest part of the city (the Bourg) is high above the river bank; the Neuveville, Auge, and Planche (Matte) quarters form the lower part (Basseville). West of the Bourg and still higher are the modern Places and Pérolles quarters. The old quarters retain much of their medieval appearance, characterized by Gothic-fronted houses and the remains of towers and gateways with 13th- to 17th-century ramparts, which originally surrounded the city. Medieval buildings include St. Nicholas Cathedral (13th–15th century) with a famous organ built by Aloys Mooser; the Franciscan church (Église des Cordeliers [1281; altered 1748]) with a 15th-century reredos; the former Augustinian Church of St. Maurice (1255) with a baroque reredos; and numerous chapels and former convents and monasteries. The town hall dates from 1506–22 with a tower of 1642. Modern architecture includes the university buildings (1941) and the Church of Christ the King (1954). The Sarine River is spanned by several bridges, notably the seven-arched Pont de Zähringen. The seat of the bishopric of Lausanne–Geneva–Fribourg and of a Roman Catholic state university (founded 1889), Fribourg is the centre of Swiss Catholicism. It possesses numerous works of art, mainly preserved in its churches and in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire.
Situated on the main railway from Lausanne to Bern and a junction of lines to Murten and Payerne, the city is also a centre for bus and postal road services. There are breweries, a foundry, and factories that manufacture chocolate, machinery, and precision instruments.. The population is primarily French speaking. Pop. (2007 est.) 33,418.