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Activities - Engadin St. Moritz

Architecture à la Engadine: Gothic, Sulèr, Sgraffito

Fortunately, heating systems comprising piles of manure stored in the cellar are no longer typical features of Engadine houses. Visitors are struck more by the beauty of the architecture as they stroll through villages on the guided tours offered in nearly all Engadine communities during the summer.

What never fails to impress is the way people of a bygone age accommodated all the spaces necessary for a farming way of life under one roof. The Sulèr on the ground floor was the area for working and storing tools. It was also where you’d find the stable and the Stüva, a cosy room, and the only room in the house that was heated. Above this were the bedrooms, and the cellar concealed the unusual "heating system": heaps of manure.

The lovely houses are decorated with sgraffitos – meaningful wall decorations scored into the plaster of the houses. All typical Engadine villages have their own individual, special charm as do the cosy Berghütten (mountain huts). Lovers of western high culture will also find extremely interesting buildings to admire, including churches and chapels in Romanesque and Gothic style. In the ancient picturesque Patrician village of Zuoz, you can visit the late Romanesque chapel of San Bastiaun and the Gothic church of Santa Catharina.

A landmark of the region is also the San Gian church, dating from the 14th century, with its two irregular towers, well preserved frescos and hand-painted wooden ceiling. It perches on a hill in the plain that stretches between Celerina, Samedan and Punt Muragl.

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