Saint Gallen's old town is compact and walkable, clustered around the abbey precinct on the hillside above the valley. Its most distinctive feature is the carved and painted oriel windows — projecting bay windows — that adorn the facade of almost every old building. Over a hundred survive, ranging from simple timber bays on merchant houses to elaborate multi-storey examples on guild buildings.
The Gallusstrasse and the streets running off it toward the Marktplatz form the heart of the pedestrian zone. The Broderbrunnen fountain in the lower market square dates from 1859 and is decorated with figures in 19th-century Saint Gallen costume. The whole area is well-maintained without being sanitised, and still has a working-city feel rather than a museum atmosphere.