Valendas Castle

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Valendas Castle
Valendas Castle

Valendas Castle

Castle type : Hill castle
Conservation status: ruin
Construction: Quarry stone, boss cuboid
Place: Valendas
Geographical location 46 ° 47 '17 "  N , 9 ° 16' 36"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 47 '17 "  N , 9 ° 16' 36"  E ; CH1903:  740,334  /  183520
Height: 850  m above sea level M.
Valendas Castle (Canton of Graubünden)
Valendas Castle
Drawing by Heinrich Kraneck, 1830

The ruins of the former castle of Valendas are on the territory of the municipality of Valendas in the Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden .

location

The ruin of the hilltop castle stands on a hill that slopes steeply on all sides at around 850  m above sea level. M. in the west of the village and is easily accessible from the village center in a few minutes. In the spring of 2007, trees and bushes were cleared from the complex.

investment

The original layout of the facility can hardly be grasped today. An outer wall can be seen, which circumscribes an irregular pentagon tapering to the south, about 50 meters long and 20 meters wide. What has been preserved is an imposing section of the wall, 25 meters long and 8 meters high, built from stock brickwork and corner stones with bosses, as well as the foundation of a wall corner in the northeast.

On the outer wall there are remains of a Rasa Pietra plaster with trowel joints. The gate opening is about 2 meters above the outer terrain, the decorative stones are missing, as are window openings. In contrast, beam holes in a protruding gallery are recognizable. It is assumed that there are four or five floors. There are no sure traces of internal walls inside the facility . Large areas of the wall are plastered on the inside of the west wall and interrupted by recesses for wooden partition walls.

The large inner area speaks against a complete roof. It is conceivable that the interior could be overbuilt with several wooden buildings leaning against the surrounding wall . The Valendas Castle was in visual contact with the Schiedberg and Grüneck castles .

history

The name of the castle is borrowed from the name of the village. The castle was the ancestral seat and center of rule of the Lords of Valendas, who were first mentioned in a document in 1258 with Ulrich von Valendas. There were connections to the Lords of Wildenberg in Falera , and later to their successors, the Werdenbergers . In the 14th century they were episcopal vassals .

The name of the castle itself is mentioned for the first time in 1332: ... it happened at Valendaz uf the castle . But as early as 1317, the Schauensteiners documented on Valendas: … the geschach ze Valendaus , the first witness was the knight Albrecht von Valendas. In 1332 Hainricus and his uncle Rudolf were killed in the castle, possibly in connection with the Vazer feud ( occisi erant in castro Vallendaus ... ).

Little is known of the individual residents. A significant head of the nobles of Valendas was Ammann Johannes I, died around 1539. He was entrusted several times with the Ammann dignity of Gruob . In the 16th century the castle was owned by the von Mont family. This presumably through marriage: a Magdalena von Valendas was married to Hans von Mont. On January 1, 1529, Gaudenz von Mont sold the castle to the village of Valendas for 120 gulden : min burg and burgstall andrechty des burgbülls with the associated rulership rights. Then the already neglected festival began to fall apart. Around 1550 the castle was no longer inhabited, but the outer walls were still preserved.

  • gallery

  • Entrance from outside

  • Wall with plaster residue

  • Looking north

  • northeast corner of the wall

  • Plant from the inside

literature

Web links

Commons : Valendas Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files