# Basel

basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine, at the transition from the High Rhine to the Upper Rhine. basel is Switzerland's third most populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with 177,595 inhabitants within the city municipality limits. basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and the city's museums include the Kunstmuseum, which was the first collection of art accessible to the public in the world (1661) and the largest museum of art in Switzerland, the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen), the Museum Tinguely and the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was the first public museum of contemporary art in Europe.