Switzerland - In The Rhaetian Triangle - Vinschgau-Val Müstair (91/151)

Switzerland - In The Rhaetian Triangle - Vinschgau-Val Müstair (91/151)

In Austria we set off on our journey to the many fortresses and churches in the border region. The route leads from the north over the Reschen Pass to Glurns in Vinschgau, past the imposing estate of the Cloister Marienburg that is still inhabited by Benedictines. Here in the region there are many church buildings from the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque era. The remoteness of the area and the relative poverty of the parishes protected the churches from the renovations of later centuries. Thus the church of St. Prokulus is, for example, the home of the oldest frescoes in the German-speaking world. In their simplicity these frescoes from the 8th century reveal the task common to all frescoes at this time: to tell the story of Jesus and God to the illiterate and simple people in memorable pictures. When travelling on through the Etsch Valley in the direction of the Swiss border, one arrives at the "Val Müstair" in Graubunden. The little villages with only a few hundred inhabitants have a charm of their own. The convent of St. John from the 8th century is world famous. Here one finds the largest preserved Carolingian cycle of frescoes, declared a World Heritage Site by the Unesco in 1983.