Castelmur Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the village of Bondo in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Bregaglia Bregaglia (Italian and rm, ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It was formed by the 2010 merger of the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano, all located in the Val ...

of the

Canton of Graubünden The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The fortifications at Castelmur may be, after the

Three Castles of Bellinzona The Castles of Bellinzona are a group of fortifications located around the town of Bellinzona, the capital of the Swiss canton of Ticino. Situated on the Alpine foothills, the group is composed of fortified walls and three castles named ''Castelgr ...

, the most important example of medieval valley fortifications in modern Switzerland.

History

The castle site has been occupied and fortified since at least the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The important trade road over the

Septimer Pass Septimer Pass (German: ''Septimerpass'', Italian: ''Passo del Settimo'', Romansh: ''Pass da Sett''; elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden in the Swiss Alps between the valleys of Bregaglia (Bergell) and Surses (Ober ...

runs through the

Val Bregaglia The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja i ...

. At Bondo the valley narrows leaving a narrow passage between the Maira river and a large rocky outcropping, making the castle site an ideal location for a customs station and fortification. The Romans built a guard station and village named "Murus" according to the 3rd century ''

Itinerarium Antonini The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...

''.Burgenwelt.org
accessed 1 December 2016 The foundations of several buildings as well as one building's

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

and two small votive altars have been excavated from the Roman settlement. After the

fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...

the Castelmur next appears in 842 as ''castellum ad Bergalliam''.Rocca feudale di Castelmur
fro

accessed 1 December 2016 At that time it was owned by the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and held by Constantius of

Sargans Sargans is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Sargans was also ...

. It included the ''porta bergalliae'' a customs and toll station located nearby. In 960 Emperor

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

granted the castle and right to collect tolls to the

Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

confirmed his grandfather's grant to the Bishop and specifically mentioned both the castle and the nearby Nossa Donna Church. The current tower was probably built around 1200. Over the following centuries the Bishop of Chur and the town of

Chiavenna Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...

quarreled over Castelmur and in 1121 or 1122 the town captured the castle. However,

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Callixtus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...

intervened and forced Chiavenna to return the castle to Chur. In 1190 the Bishop granted the castle to Albertus de Castello Muro or Castelmur. His descendants ruled over the castle until 1264 when Albertus Popus Castelmur stole cattle from the nobles of Chiavenna and

Piuro Piuro (''Piür'' in the Chiavenna, local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of ...

, led to an invasion and the castle being conquered in 1268. These nobles held the Castelmur for four years before returning it to the Castelmurs in 1272. Around 1340 the Bishop reclaimed the castle and then mortgaged it to the Planta family for 200 Marks. To discourage the Planta family from trying to completely annex the lucrative castle and tolls, in 1410 the Bishop mortgaged it to Jacob Perutt von Castelmur for 150 Gulden. Twenty years later the Bishop used a loan from the Salis family to buy out the mortgage and give it to them. In 1490, for the last time, the Bishop gave the castle to Michel Pfannholz. However, he abandoned it in 1538 and left the castle to fall into ruin. The castle ruins were repaired and cleaned in the 19th century by Baron Giovanni de Castelmur. In addition to the castle, he repaired and rededicated the nearby church of S. Maria (Nossa Donna). The church's

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

is a Romanesque construction, but much of the church itself, including the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

are from this 19th century renovation. The church was first mentioned in 988.

Castle site

The original fortification was a wall or ''

letzi A ''Letzi'' (plural: ''Letzinen'', also known in German as a ''Talsperre'' in the sense of a fortification, not a dam) or ''Letzimauer'' refers to defensive barriers whose purpose is to protect the entrance into a valley. The term is Swiss, and ...

'' that straddled the valley between the Maira river and the castle hill. This wall, which was up to thick, had a gate that could be blocked by logs if needed. The remains of this wall are north-west of the main tower. In the 12th century a square tower with a ring wall were built on top of the steep outcrop. This tower allowed a noble family to take up residence and changed Castelmur from a toll collecting station into a regional administrative center. The five story square tower was on a side with walls on the lowest story. Much of this tower is still visible. The castle church was built below the castle hill south of the main tower. At some point, a second tower was added on a tall hill south of the main tower. This building measured about , though very little of it still remain. File:Castelmur Talsperre südlich.jpg, Ruins of the valley wall File:Castelmur Talsperre.jpg, Ruins of the valley road and wall File:Castelmur Lage.jpg, The main road through the valley passes under the Castelmur File:Castelmur Tor Hauptburg.jpg, Door into the main castle complex File:Castelmur Turm von SW.jpg, The main square tower File:Castelmur Plan.jpg, Layout of Castelmur

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castelmur Castle Bondo Bregaglia Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Castles in Graubünden Letzi

History

Castle site

See also

References