Zurich's town hall — the Rathaus — sits on a small artificial island in the Limmat, built so that the building stands literally on stilts over the river. Constructed in 1694–98 in a restrained late Renaissance style, it has been the meeting place of both the city council and the cantonal parliament ever since (the canton sits to the right of the entrance, the city to the left).
The interior is open during weekday visits when no session is in progress: oak-panelled chambers, a ceiling decorated with allegorical paintings of the cantons, and a magnificent ceramic stove in the council hall. Even from outside the building is worth a careful look — the carved stone window surrounds, the heraldic tympanum over the main door, and the wide arches under which the river flows. Easy to miss in passing because the building is comparatively low; well worth stopping for.