Short walk between Andeer and Zillis near the Hinterrhein River

Saturday September 25, 2021 -- Day 4 of our 4-day trip to Nature Park Beverin... and unfortunately not what we had hoped for!

Our plan for the day was a 4-hour hike starting at the San Bernardino Pass (the second main passage besides the Splügen Pass from this valley to the South), which was only a short ride from our accommocation, and would have been a fairly quick way home at the end of the day.

But even though the day dawned cloudless in the Rheinwald Valley, we should have checked the webcam for the Pass. Not 10 kilometers away and barely 500 meters higher up, the pass was shrouded in thick fog, and there was thick cloud cover in the Mesocco Valley south of the pass. Not wanting again to hang around and wait for the clouds to dissipate, we rode back down to Nufenen, back past the five villages of the Rheinwald Valley and the Rofla Gorge, and down to Andeer, which is the next town North of the Rofla Gorge.  

Unfortunately, due to the two-hour delay, it was too late to plan a longer mountain tour, so Urs said "it doesn't always have to be a 4-hour hike" and we settled on a valley-bottom walk along the Via Spluga Trail from Andeer to Zillis (Basically, this is the section between the Rofla and Via Mala Gorges). It was barely a two-hour and 8-km walk but it was hotter than the entire summer we had had, and not the best choice for a valley-bottom hike, but this walk was mainly about pretty houses, churches, flowers, painted walls and other unique features. But with the heat and the longing to be higher up, this walk made me more tired than any four-hour hike in the mountains. 

(In the village of Zillis at the end of our hike, is an old church called St.Martin's. It has the best-preserved painted wood-panel ceiling of its kind in the world. We know this because we visited it on the day we walked through the Via Mala Gorge, so we didn't go in this time. But pictures of the ceiling and the gorge hike can be viewed HERE).

But all in all, we had a good four days in this beautiful area! Top weather, few people, and a very special accommodation in the 300-year old former traveler's Inn in the village of Nufenen...

At 9:15 a.m. we are saying good-bye to the village of Nufenen where we spent three nights in a lovely studio apartment in a 300-year-old renovated traveler's Inn. We are taking the bus through the San Bernardino tunnel to the village of San Bernardino. 

Even though we could see that the pass was in thick fog, we decided to take the bus up anyway (from the South) and just continue right back down on the North side, back into the Rheinwald Valley where we had just come from. 

The bus had a stop of a few minutes at the pass, so time for a couple of photos in the fog. Sometimes the effect is quite nice!

Even though a few people did get out at the San Bernardino Pass, we were the only ones who continued down the North side. Here we are coming back to the Rheinwald Valley, where the weather is beautiful!

Continuing down the Rheinwald Valley 90 minutes after our start, we pass all the familiar villages: Nufenen, Medel, Splügen, Sufers.

We had decided to see the town of Andeer, and to walk from here just eight kilometers northward along the Hinterrhein River to the village of Zillis. 

A look south over the village of Andeer. It is in the region at the back where we did the three previous hikes.

Walking through the town of Andeer and admiring the houses

We always like to come across covered wooden bridges

Crossing the Hinterrhein River in Andeer

The stretch we are following is the Via Spluga Trail no.50 (the old market trail which we had also followed when we descended from the Splügen Pass two days earlier). Clugin and Donath are the two towns we are passing through, and then continuing to Zillis

A short hike for us, not quite 8 kilometers and just over two hours. But it was very hot, especially the stretch from Andeer to Clugin (wide forest road, no shade), so it seemed longer

The little chapel in Clugin dates from the 12th Century and contains frescoes from 1350. 

I was very happy that this chapel was open for viewing, but there was a large iron lock you first had to figure out!

Pictures of the 12th-Century Chapel in Clugin. This is more the style of Catholic churches and chapels of that era, but this region is actually predominantly Protestant with churches with simple interiors featuring lots of carved wood (ceilings, benches, pulpit, organ). This building is a remnant from before the region converted to Protestantism in 1530.

This is the time of year for Autumn Saffron flowers, which are plentiful in the meadows.

After the long section of road between Andeer and Clugin, we were glad to get back onto meadow trails (on the left). 

Heading down through the forest trail to the next village called Donath (or Donat)

Arriving in Donat after passing through the forest below

We never get tired of these beautiful houses. There is so much intricate detail, and often paintings of family crests on the walls. 

I am always happy to find a town fountain, especially on a hot day, to fill up water bottles and bathe my head and back (which gets very hot from the back-pack!)

In the village church, the text indicates that the church was renovated in 1688! (Later as well, but it would be at least that old, at least 1463 according to documentation). 

On this house is painted a saying, and the date 1608

The text here is in the local Rumantsch language. "Tgea" means "House", and the dates would indicate the house was built in 1552!

An interesting "foyer"?

This are very similar coats of arms, found on separate buildings. 

Up the hill are lots of similar chapels. I was so longing to have been up there to check those out! We could have taken a bus up the hill and walked down, but didn't decide quickly enough. 

This calf must have been born in the night. There were two of them lying in the grass, as if they had recently been "dropped". It had just gotten up on its wobbly legs and made its way to the first meal.

The origins of St.Martin's Church in Zillis date to the year 500. It has the best-preserved wood-panel ceiling of its kind in the world. 

(This photo of the ceiling of St.Martin's Church was taken in 2018 when we started here on our hike through the Via Mala Gorge.... Photos can be viewed HERE)

Farmhouse in the village of Zillis

The flowers make all the difference!

We spied some swallows hidden under a roof overhang!

This is cute.

The village restaurant (and Gasthaus?)

Inscription on the restaurant building in Zillis. Presumably the building dates from 1608?

The center green line is the walk we did this day from Andeer to Zillis. In 2018 we walked from Zillis to Thusis via the Via Mala Gorge. The other two green lines are two of the other three hikes we did on this trip. 

Location of the Rheinwald Valley near the border with Italy

Location of the four excursions we did during our trip to the Nature Park Beverin. As well as the planned hike near the San Bernardino Pass

DAY 1 Hike:  Innerferrera to the Rofla Gorge -->  HERE

DAY 2 Hike:  Splügen Pass to Splügen via the Suretta Lakes -- HERE

DAY 3 Hike:  Juf to Cröt via Cresta --> HERE

DAY 4 Hike:  Andeer to Zillis 

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The Legendary Viamala Gorge, from Zillis to Sils im Domleschg

July 14, 2018 -- Oh those weather reports, not so accurate lately! This time we ended up going with Plan C1....

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).

St.Martin's church in Zillis, origins date from the year 500, many additions and upgrades over the centuries.

153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square

153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square

Some very nice details

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.

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.

Dating of the wood shows that the trees used for these panels were cut in the winter of 1109/1110

 

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

This is the village of Zillis, where we started our hike. Headed North from here toward the Viamala Gorge

Beautiful old house in Zillis, Canton Grisons

On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, where we had our first picnic

On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, above which was the first of many castles we saw this day

Right above this bridge at the top of the cliff is a castle, Fortress Haselstein

Fortress Haselstein, one of very many fortresses on this important North-South passage

These days the trip through the Viamala Gorge takes about 5 minutes by car.... 

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.

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.

The narrowest part of the Viamala Gorge

For 6 SFr. you can descend into the gorge to a viewing platform. We have been in many gorges, so we skipped this one.

As we continued on our trail, there were several places where we also saw down into the gorge

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

The Traversina Steg: 60 m long and 22m higher on this end. The Viamala gorge is in the background.

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)

Our very lovely picnic spot 300m vertically above the river

You can just barely see how our "picnic spot" juts out over the cliff face !!! 

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.

A selection of the many castles (there were also lots of ruins) on our bus ride to Rhäzuns (instead of returning to Thusis)

Distance-wise this was only 11 km, but it took us almost 4 hours to walk (not counting the time in Zillis)