Top 4 Caves in Surselva

Very special ruin, built like a swallow's nest on the rock - the short detour from the wide path onto a narrow, well-secured path is very worthwhile.

Located directly on the rock face

The large glacial mill is quite unusual: it broke off the bedrock due to a rock fall and is now lying on the slope in such a way that it looks like a cave. An adult can easily stand upright in it. The small, inconspicuous wooden information sign is easily overlooked

Large crevice into which one can descend. According to a legend, the pastor of Vals once had to go up to the village of Zerfreila (which was then flooded by the dam in 1957) to administer the last sacraments to a dying woman. However, the path had been buried by an avalanche and he couldn't continue to the village, but he couldn't go back to Vals either. He had already resigned himself to freezing to death here when it occurred to him that he must be near the "Warma Chracha". In fact, he was able to save himself up to this crevasse. He saw footprints in the snow, but not a soul far and wide, no matter how hard he shouted. Finally he gathered all his courage and climbed down into the crevasse. There he soon came across a wooden board and noticed with astonishment that he was standing by a coffin - the coffin of that dying woman from Zerfreila. Because there was no cemetery in Zerfreila at that time, the coffin should have been transported to Vals, but the pallbearers couldn't get through either and so they deposited the coffin in the warm Chrachä... the priest recognized this quickly and began immediately for them praying for the dead as if he had come in time. The legend is much more extensive in the original :-)

Kropfenstein/Casti Grotta, Waltensburg. It is a grotto castle that is difficult to access in a south-facing location. Access is from the east via a narrow ledge around a ledge. Today it is widened and secured by railings, but would leave the bike up there.

The small path down to the castle ruins doesn't do much with the bike, I would definitely leave the bike up on the gravel road and walk the two or three minutes.

Worth seeing facility, about 700 years old. There is no direct documentary evidence of the castle or its builders. Kropfenstein, however, is one of the few grotto castles that were not built in a dark hole as a refuge in times of need, but served as a residence for a respected family, which among other things provided bailiffs and magistrates. Possibly the von Kropfenstein family of lower nobility based in Luven (Maschieras) built or acquired the Kropfenstein Castle or named themselves after it, while a branch of this family continued to reside in Luven. On November 28 or 29, 1328, during a procession in Rueun, a Jocobus de Strotznstein was killed. Whether this was an early owner of Kropfenstein or an as yet unidentified Stotznstein Castle in the Waltensburg area is uncertain. A Bürklin von Cropfenstein is mentioned in 1335, who worked several times as a judge, and in 1396 Albrecht von Kropfenstein, episcopal judge in Ilanz. His name will be mentioned several times in the years to come. 1401 Florin von Kropfenstein is mentioned. In 1433 Clara von Kropfenstein sold some goods to a donate from Kadunau. In the same year and again in 1437 Junker Hans von Kropfenstein is mentioned, who was nicknamed "Muschieras", which in turn indicates a connection to Luven. Close relationships with the barons of Rhäzüns can be proven. A feuding letter from Ulrich von Rhäzüns and Hans von Kropfenstein to the castellan of Freudenberg has been preserved from May 3, 1437. The best-known Kropfensteiner was Marquart von Kropfenstein, who was a judge of the Gray League in 1438/39 and 1442/43. Junker Jörg von Kropfenstein is mentioned in 1473, who at that time attached his seal to a contract of sale from a Waltensburger. Towards the end of the 15th century, perhaps with Junker Jörg, the von Kropfenstein family must have died out and the castle began to crumble.

Access to the long, three-story building is only possible via a steep, narrow path from the east, which was widened in the 1950s during a restoration and secured by railings. The project was initiated and financed by Paul Gabriel, a citizen of Waltensburg who had emigrated to Canada. According to dendrochronological investigations, the complex dates from the beginning of the 14th century; a year of 1312 is mentioned. There is no evidence of a previous building. The inner wall and parts of the roof are formed by the overhanging rock. The beam bearings of the earlier access are still recognizable today. The complex is entered through a low entrance gate. A square window and a shooting hatch are embedded in the wall above the gate. The eastern part of the complex is a narrow tube about 1.5 to 2 m wide and, due to the cramped conditions, probably only served as storage and for defense. The south wall has broken several times and has been adapted to the natural course of the rock face. There are several slit windows for exposure as well as square windows with openings of approx. 70 by 50 cm. The living quarters were in the western part of the complex, six meters wide. Remains of transverse walls, beam holes, windows with seating niches, a cloakroom in the west wall and a heap on the second floor reveal the earlier division. A relief found in the ruin showing a man with a short coat is in the Rhaetian Museum; a copy is exhibited in the Waltensburg local museum. The interior of the building wing is divided by two transverse walls, the foundations of which are still preserved. Some of the wooden beams that were still there were sawn off, which suggests that the beams that can still be used are planned to be demolished and removed. The most suitable roof is probably a pent roof attached backwards to the rock.