Found­ed in the 12th cen­tu­ry on a hill site sur­round­ed by the Aare Riv­er, Berne devel­oped over the cen­turies in line with a an excep­tion­al­ly coher­ent plan­ning con­cept. The build­ings in the Old City, dat­ing from a vari­ety of peri­ods, include 15th-cen­­tu­ry arcades and 16th-cen­­tu­ry foun­tains. Most of the medieval town was restored in the 18th cen­tu­ry but it has retained its orig­i­nal char­ac­ter.