Valendas Castle (Ruin)

The ruin of the former Valendas Castle is located in the municipality of Valendas in Surselva, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

The ruin lies on a steeply sloping hill to the west of the village and is easily accessible from the village center in just a few minutes. In spring 2007, the site was cleared of trees and bushes.

The original layout of the complex is now barely discernible. An outer wall can be seen, which encloses an irregular pentagon, tapering wedge-shaped to the south, approximately 50 meters long and 20 meters wide. An imposing section of wall, 25 meters long and 8 meters high, built of layered masonry and corner stones with bosses, has been preserved, as well as the foundation of a wall corner in the northeast.

On the outer wall, there are remnants of a Rasa-Pietra plaster with trowel joints. The gate opening is approximately 2 meters above the outer terrain; the jamb stones are missing, as are window openings. However, beam holes for a projecting gallery are visible. Four or five stories are presumed. Inside the complex, there are no reliable traces of internal walls. On the inside of the west wall, large areas of the wall are plastered and interrupted by recesses for wooden partition walls.

The large interior area argues against a complete roofing. A possible interpretation is the construction of several wooden structures leaning against the enclosing wall within the interior. Valendas Castle was in visual contact with Schiedberg and Grüneck castles.

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

The name of the castle itself is first mentioned in 1332: ...diz geschah ze Valendaz uf der Burge. However, already in 1317, the Schauensteiners documented on Valendas: ...das geschach ze Valendaus, the first witness was Knight Albrecht von Valendas. In 1332, Hainricus and his uncle Rudolf were killed in the castle, possibly in connection with the Vazerfehde (occisi erant in castro Vallendaus...).

Little is known about the individual inhabitants. A prominent figure among the nobles of Valendas was Ammann Johannes I, who died around 1539. He was repeatedly entrusted with the office of Ammann of Gruob. In the 16th century, the castle was owned by the von Mont family. This was presumably through marriage: a Magdalena von Valendas was married to Hans von Mont. On January 1, 1529, Gaudenz von Mont sold the castle for 120 Landgulden to the village of Valendas: min burg und burgstall und rechty des burgbülls mit den dazugehörigen Herrschaftsrechten. Subsequently, the already dilapidated fortress began to fall into disrepair. Around 1550, the castle was no longer inhabited, but the outer walls were still preserved.