Serviezel Castle

Serviezel Castle
Serviezel Castle
Ruine Serviezel
Valsot
	South wall of the ruins
	Serviezel Castle Serviezel Castle
Coordinates	46°52′59″N 10°27′10″E / 46.88306°N 10.45278°E
Type	hill castle
Code	CH-GR
Height	1,230 m above the sea
Site information
Condition	ruin
Site history
Built	12th century

Serviezel Castle is a pair of ruined castles in the municipality of Valsot of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. Very little is known about either castle and they were probably both built in the 12th century for the Lords of Ramosch. Serviezel (Ramosch) is located in the former municipality of Ramosch, while Serviezel (Tschlin) is about 6.1 km (3.8 mi) away in the former municipality of Tschlin.

History

Very little is known about either castle since neither is mentioned in any surviving medieval documents. Serviezel is probably named after the Wezzels, a local minor nobility family, who are first mentioned around 1150. They were probably vassals or a cadet line of the lords of Ramosch. In 1256 the Count of Tyrol granted Nannes of Ramosch permission to build a castle, but that probably refers to the larger and better known Tschanüff Castle.^[1]

Castle site

Ramosch

The castle was a single rectangular tower probably with a full or partial ring wall on top of a small hill. The ruins are in poor condition and generally over grown. The tower is about 13 by 10 meters (43 ft × 33 ft) with wall thicknesses of between 1.8–2.4 m (5.9–7.9 ft). The south wall is about the most visible and is about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) high. West of the tower there is a pile of stone which probably marks the location of a collapsed wall or outbuilding.^[1]

Tschlin

This tower was built on a large (75 by 25 meters, 246 ft × 82 ft hilltop above a trade road through the valley. The walls are 1.2–1.4 m (3.9–4.6 ft) thick. The tower was probably encircled by a ring wall of which an 85 cm (2.79 ft) thick and 15 m (49 ft) long section is still visible.^[2]