Hohenrätien Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the

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

Sils im Domleschg Sils im Domleschg ( Romansh: ''Seglias'') is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Sils im Domleschg is first mentioned in 1149 as ''de Sillas''. Geography Sils im Domleschg has an area, (as of the ...

of the

Canton of Graubünden The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; * Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. I ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The castle was built on a rock wall that rises above the

Viamala Viamala or Via Mala (Romansh language, Romansh: literally, "bad path") is a narrow canyon, gorge along the river Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, as well as the an ...

river and the important roads over the

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

and

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (; ; ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the south at the end of the Valle San Giacomo below the pass ...

es. A steep path leads from the valley floor to the eastern side of the wall. The area was inhabited during the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

s. During the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

the current castle site was a religious site and by the 4th or 5th century there was a church on the site. It is unknown whether the church was originally built as a Christian church or was a temple to

Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mit ...

that was converted into a church. By the 5th century a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

had been added and it was known as the Church of St. John. The church remained in operation over the next 1000 years. It was the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

for the left side of the Rhine river until 1500. A first ring wall was probably added around the same time. By the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

the church was the center of a large

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and was also used as a refuge from attack. A number of fortifications were built in the 11th century for the parish

vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

. They included a two-story stone house which eventually became the main tower, repairs and expansion of the outer

ring wall A curtain wall is a defensive wall between fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town. Ancient fortifications Evidence for curtain walls or a series of walls surrounding a town or fortress can be found in the historical source ...

and may have included the south-east tower and the priest's tower. In the 13th century the main tower was expanded and surrounded with an inner wall. Storage and work shops were added around the tower. This inner castle became known as Hochrialt, possibly connected with the Lords of Rialt who first appeared in 1170 at Niederrialt Castle in Cazis. Despite the expansion of the 13th century, much of the castle was abandoned at the beginning of the 14th. Possibly an earthquake in 1295 may have damaged the castle enough to make it uninhabitable. Another theory is that the castle needed a nearby town to support it and the lack of water combined with a drop in traffic over the Viamala road led to the town and then the castle being abandoned. After the castle was abandoned, the bishop's representatives left the priest's tower and moved to

Fürstenau Castle Fürstenau may refer to: *Fürstenau, Lower Saxony, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany * Fürstenau (Samtgemeinde), a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany *Fürstenau (Altenberg) a quarter (''Ortsteil'') in Altenberg, ...

In the 14th century the Rialt family apparently died out. Around the same time, in 1359, the patronage rights over the church were granted to

Cazis Priory Cazis ''( Romansh: Tgazas)'' is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Portein, Präz, Sarn and Tartar merged into the municipality of Cazis. History Cazis is first men ...

. In 1410 a register of church property recorded that ''Hoch-Rialt'' was an abandoned fortress. At some point in the late 14th or early 15th century the south-east was destroyed in a fire. In 1473 the communities of

Thusis Thusis (, '' Romansh: Tusàn'') is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Mutten merged into the municipality of Thusis. History Thusis is first mentioned in 1156 as ...

Masein Masein ''( Romansh: Masagn)'' is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Masein is first mentioned in 1156 as ''de Medezenu''. Geography Masein has an area, , of . Of this area, 38.4% is used for agric ...

and

Cazis Cazis ''( Romansh: Tgazas)'' is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Portein, Präz, Sarn and Tartar merged into the municipality of Cazis. History Cazis is first m ...

agreed to build a road on the other side of the river which completely bypassed Hohenrätien and removed any motivation to rebuild. In 1480 the castle ruins were inherited by the Jecklin family. The priest's tower continued to be the home of the parish priest until 1505 when the last priest left. In 1573 the name ''Hohenrätien'' was first given to the castle by a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

scribe who tried to connect the castle to Raetus, the legendary ancestor of the

Rhaetian people The Raeti ( ; spelling variants: ''Rhaeti'', ''Rheti'' or ''Rhaetii'') were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture were related to those of the Etruscans. Before the Roman conquest, they inhabited present-day Tyrol in Austr ...

. In 1581 the von Hohenrealta family inherited the castle and surrounding lands. In the late 19th century a project to build an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

from Thusis to Hohenrätien was considered, but not built. However, developers built an alpine restaurant in an arched roof basement in the castle ruins. It remained in operation until 1914 and traces of the restaurant are still visible today. In 1973 the Hohenrealta family foundation began working with cantonal authorities and local volunteers to restore and excavate the castle. In more than a dozen stages roofs were built over the buildings and the towers were cleaned and reinforced. Archaeological excavations in 1997 and 2001 explored the Roman and early medieval ruins around the castle site. Today, the church, baptistry and castle can be rented for a variety of events.

Castle site

The Inner Castle is on the south western side of the ridge. In the center of the castle is the main tower, which has a

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

on the ground floor that could hold about . The second story was used for storing supplies. The main entrance and reception hall was on the third story, along with a large fireplace and a latrine. The fourth story was a single, large bedroom. The modern renovations of the tower changed the interior, while leaving the exterior unchanged. The tower was roofed over with a glass roof. Wooden platforms were built around the walls at the same height as the original floor, though the center was left open to allow light into the entire tower.

Gallery

File:Abmarsch der Munitionssaumkolonne - CH-BAR - 3238799.tif, Troops march past Hohenrätien 1914-1918 File:Pfaffenturm.jpg, Priest's Tower File:St Johann Hohenraetien.JPG, Church of St. John File:HR-Eckturm.jpg, Ruins of the corner tower File:HR-Taufbecken.jpg, 5th century

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

File:Hinterrhein Thusis.JPG, Hinterrhein river with Hohenrätien in the background File:Hochrialt.JPG, Main tower at Hohenrätien

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohenratien Castle Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Castles in Graubünden