The cathedral is the centrepiece of Basel’s historical heritage, standing on a hill beside the Rhine. A celtic settlement stood on this hill before the Romans came and built their own fortification there in the first century BC, and some time in the early middle ages a church was built on it. By the 9th century this had become a cathedral, and the structure that stands there today was built in stages between 1019 and 1500. Parts of the 9th century edifice are preserved inside.

Basel was the seat of the papal council from 1431 until 1440, and the anti-pope Felix V was elected there in 1440. The cloisters on the east side contain, among the graves of many Basel elites, that of mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, a contemporary of Isaac Newtown who contributed to the development of calculus and probability theory.

Standing in such a prominent position, the cathedral can be seen from many parts of Basel, and thus is a familiar icon for the city.