Chur Switzerland - The Oldest Swiss City
Chur Switzerland, the capital of the Canton of Grisons has a 5,000 year settlement history and therefore calls itself as the oldest Swiss city.This ancient city developed early to the political and cultural center of Grisons thanks mainly to its location at the foot of important Alpine passes. Most travelers on their way up to the mountains or to the south pass through Chur Switzerland. Unfortunately, the center has a few not very beautiful high rises and industrial buildings. Regardless of that, there are a lot of interesting things to discover at the once mighty bishop's town. It is something that you wouldn't expect in view of the mountainous surroundings. 
Chur Switzerland is the hub for many Panorama trains heading to the Grisons Alps. The Bernina Express travels to St. Moritz and Tirano along the Albula route which is seen by many as a masterpiece of railway construction. The Glacier Express takes the route over St. Moritz to Zermatt. The Arosa Express leaves for the renowned climatic Spa resort of Arosa and the Heidi Express takes the route to the Davos resort. Worth a visit is the atmosphere rich Old Town with great architecture, the significant cathedral and the art museum. Chur Switzerland has the highest average temperature of all Swiss cities. The city has also besides the Northern Jura the greatest abundance of It is the city with the longest settlement history north of the Alps, thus making it the oldest in Switzerland. Recently the city celebrated "2000 Years of Roman Chur", but it is actually dating back to 9,000 BC, that makes it over 11,000 years. With over 300 stores and shops all concentrated into one small area, makes it the densest shopping network between Zurich and Lugano. There are over 130 restaurants that offer different cuisines like French, Italian, Spanish, Thai, Japanese, Greek, Portuguese, Indonesian or Chinese. Not bad for a small city of only 35,000 inhabitants, don't you think so? Place of Interest Cathedral Over predecessor churches of the 5th and 8th centuries rises the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Ascension). The cathedral was constructed from 1150 - 1272. Through a Romanesque round main arch entrance one enters the small church whose ground tears perform a left turn. Below it are the capital cultures, the lean apostle's statues (around 1200) which are found at the entrance to the crypt. Also to see are the sacrament house from 1184 and rests of Karolin
relief plastic in the crypt and laurentius altar. Jakob Russ from Ravensburg formed in the choir the most beautiful wing altar of the Swiss Late-Gothic with the mother of God in the
shrine. Reichsgasse The "Storchengasse" leads east to the Late-Gothic Regulakirche (Regula church), constructed around 1500 with modern glass windows of Hans Studer. The Cantonal government building on the "Reichsgasse" was established as a ruling seat for Andreas von Salis-Soglio. The obelisk in front of the government building reminds of the union of the three alliances. A few steps away on Reichgasse 57 stand the birth house of Angelica
Kauffmann. Art Museum of the Canton of
Grisons Additionally, there are also works from local Grisons artists such as Elisabeth Arpagaus, Matias Spescha, Not Vital and Pascale Wiedemann. Some of the collection highlights are a painting from Ferdinand Hodler (1853 - 1918) that portrays the famous Lake Geneva and Alps of Savoie in the back ground from 1907. One of the most significant artists of the 18th-century is Angelika Kauffmann (1741 - 1807) who made a self-portrait in 1780 at the age of forty. The German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880 - 1938) has put in numerous works his chosen hometown Davos with its stunning mountains onto canvas. One of his finest paintings was from 1924 called "Blick auf Davos" (View over Davos).
Raetian Museum Most of the exhibited finds are from settlements of the Stone and Bronze Age. The oldest inscription of the Grisons can be found on the spout of a bronze beaker jug from Castaneda from 500 - 400 BC. There are also statuettes of Mercurius to see, the God of trade which illustrates the importance of Chur as emporium during Roman times. Many Grison arts and crafts are represented at the Raetian Museum mainly through pottery, metalwork, textile equipment and accessories such as spinning wheels and textile products. Other important objects which display the cultural history of the Grisons are relics of fishing and hunting as well as arms and armor. The Museum also presents a collection of over 200,000 numismatic objects from Antiquity to modern times. A display cabinet introduces the visitor to the complex minting history of the Three Leagues. You can see the production of coins, gofers and rollers, coin machines for forgeries as well as other treasures. Chur Switzerland Restaurants
Basilic Duc de Rohan
Obelisco Chur Switzerland Hotels This city does not offer any 5-star hotels. However, we can recommend you a few good 4-star hotels should you decide to stay awhile in that location. Hotel ABC Click here for more information on the Glacier Express. For more on the resort of Zermatt click here. Minotel Freieck Drei Könige Return from Chur Switzerland to Swiss Cities
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The reason is the effect of the protected location and from the "Föhn", (a warm local wind in the Swiss mountains) and wins with his vineyards a special picture. About 50% of the area of
the city is made up of forests.
