Definitely not as satisfying as actually executing Plan A, Plan C1 was to walk through the legendary Viamala Gorge (through which flows the Posterior Rhine River) in Canton Graubünden, where it didn't matter that it ended up raining slightly. It's a gorge I've wanted to walk through for a long time anyway. But the vehicle traffic was rather annoying, so plans changed once more as we opted for the mountain trail about halfway down the gorge (Veia Traversina) instead of staying on the old roadway.
Our excursion started in the village of Zillis after admiring the unique little church called St.Martin's which has the best-preserved wood-paneled ceiling of its kind in the world. The panels are about 1m square in size and by dating the wood, it was determined that the panels were painted in the early 12th century. The church's origins date to the year 500.
This entire area (called the Domleschg) was one of the major North-South routes back into prehistoric times... and the traverse of the deep canyon without the help of modern roads was somewhat dangerous, hence the name "Via Mala" which means "Bad Road".
After a descent into the canyon and back out again, and not joining the other tourists in the specially-made-for-tourists descent into the narrowest part of the gorge (to a viewing platform below), we left the old roadway and passed across the fabulous 60-m long Traversina Suspension Bridge, more of a staircase than a bridge as the far end is 22m higher than the near end.
After stunning glimpses 300 vertical meters into the canyon below we passed by the ruins of the Hohen Rätien Castle, perched on a promontory at the Northern entrance to the Viamala Gorge. This entire area is replete with churches and fortresses, and the Hohen Rätien Castle grounds are not only the largest castle areal in Canton Grisons, but also house the earliest Christian Church built in the region.
Having seen our fair share of castle ruins we decided to bypass the ascent (in the meantime it got hot) to this Monument of National Importance and head directly down to our destination of Sils. We ended our excursion with a long bus ride through the Domleschg to admire all the castle and ruins....
HIGHLIGHTS of ST.MARTIN's ZILLIS:
(153 painted sliding wooden panels in the ceiling, each about 1m square. The panels depict the lives of Christ and St.Martin. All along the edges are paintings of animals -- half land animal and half sea animal -- as it was believed back then that for every land animal there must be an equivalent sea animal).
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| St.Martin's church in Zillis, origins date from the year 500, many additions and upgrades over the centuries. |
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| 153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square |
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| 153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square |
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| Some very nice details |
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| You get a kink in the neck from staring upwards. There are mirrors available to make the viewing easier, or to make you dizzy, as in my case. |
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| The panels are made of thin wooden boards joined by wooden dowels. A layer of glue solution was added to prevent absorption, before the drawings were painted. |
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| Dating of the wood shows that the trees used for these panels were cut in the winter of 1109/1110 |
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| Another glimpse of the church as seen from the museum window. We're not fans of museums, but it cost 5Fr. to view the church, and the price included a visit of the museum. It was worth it. |
THE HIKE TO and THROUGH the VIA MALA GORGE
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| This is the village of Zillis, where we started our hike. Headed North from here toward the Viamala Gorge |
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| Beautiful old house in Zillis, Canton Grisons |
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| On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, where we had our first picnic |
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| On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, above which was the first of many castles we saw this day |
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| Right above this bridge at the top of the cliff is a castle, Fortress Haselstein |
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| Fortress Haselstein, one of very many fortresses on this important North-South passage |
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| These days the trip through the Viamala Gorge takes about 5 minutes by car.... |
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| This is the only section where we were actually at the bottom of the gorge. On the other side we had to go up to the road again. |
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| This is the narrowest section of the gorge, where the highway goes through. Behind me is the Tourist Center where you can buy souvenirs and have a coffee and for 6 Fr. you can descend into the gorge. |
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| The narrowest part of the Viamala Gorge |
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| For 6 SFr. you can descend into the gorge to a viewing platform. We have been in many gorges, so we skipped this one. |
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| As we continued on our trail, there were several places where we also saw down into the gorge |
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| Instead of taking the old road on the left side of the valley, we went higher up on the right side and came across this superb suspension bridge, which is actually a staircase because the far end is 22m higher than the near end! This bridge is called the Traversina Steg |
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| The Traversina Steg: 60 m long and 22m higher on this end. The Viamala gorge is in the background. |
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| At this spot that we stopped for a picnic, we could see down on the old highway which was the original suggestion for the trail out of the valley. (The river is 300m vertically below) |
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| Our very lovely picnic spot 300m vertically above the river |
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| You can just barely see how our "picnic spot" juts out over the cliff face !!! |
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| Shortly before our descent to Sils, we passed the ruins of the Hohen Rhätien Castle, the largest castle areal in Canton Grisons, perched on a promontory at the North entrance to the Viamala Gorge. We weren't up for the hot ascent, so we skipped this as well, although this cultural monument is apparently also well worth a visit. |
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| A selection of the many castles (there were also lots of ruins) on our bus ride to Rhäzuns (instead of returning to Thusis) |
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| Distance-wise this was only 11 km, but it took us almost 4 hours to walk (not counting the time in Zillis) |
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