6 Best Sights in Graubünden, Switzerland

The Cathedral of the Assumption was built between 1151 and 1272, drawing on stylistic influences from all across Europe. On this same site have stood a Roman castle, a bishop's house in the 5th century, and a Carolingian cathedral in the 8th century. Inside, the capitals of the columns are carved with fantastical beasts; clustered at their bases are less threatening animals, such as sheep and marmots. In the choir is a magnificent late-15th-century altar of gilded wood with nearly 150 carved figures created by Jakob Russ from Ravensburg, Germany.

Among the town's few architectural highlights, the late-Gothic Kirche St. Johann stands out by virtue of its windows by Augusto Giacometti. Nearby is the 17th-century Rathaus (Town Hall).

If you walk through the Swiss National Park over the Ofen Pass to the Münster Valley and Italy, you can visit the Benedictine Convent of St. John at Müstair, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Italian border. The convent is still active and has fasting weeks in spring and fall. Take time to wonder at the Romanesque frescoes AD 800–1170; more paintings are being uncovered using laser technology, including at the adjacent 8th-century Chapel of the Holy Cross, accessible only by guided tour. The appealingly simple convent complex also houses a small museum with baroque statues and Carolingian works.

A short train ride or drive south of Chur, the St. Martin church's renowned 12th-century painted wood ceiling features 153 panels that mostly depict stories from the Bible. It is one of the world's oldest original artistic works from the Romanesque era.

In Klosters Platz the church of St. Jacob, dating from 1492, is the only remnant of the medieval monastery from which the village took its name. Its windows were painted by Augusto Giacometti.

St. Martin's was rebuilt in 1491 after a fire destroyed the 8th-century original. Since 1526 it has been Protestant. On your right as you enter are three stained-glass windows created in 1919 by Augusto Giacometti, the father of the Graubünden sculptor Alberto Giacometti. The steeple dates from 1917; with permission from the sacristan, you can climb to the top to see the bells. Of note, too, is the 1716 fountain beside the church, whose basin features the signs of the zodiac (the figure on top is a replica of the original).