Ringgenberg Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a spur-shaped moraine hill, above the hamlet of Ringgenberg (Zignau in Romansh), in the municipality of Trun, in Surselva, the ruins of a tower surrounded by a curtain wall and outbuildings still survive. Together with Friberg Castle at Siat, they formed the eastern boundary of the estate of Disentis Abbey facing Chur. The core of the complex is a four-storey tower, each level set back within the thickness of the wall, which tapers from 2.4 m to 1.3 m; the masonry of rubble and erratic blocks is laid in courses, with numerous tuff dressings. A high entrance opens in the east wall on the third level, and the beam holes reveal a gallery that ran along the entire south façade. Certain details date the tower to the mid or second half of the 13th century, and at least one extension followed. The castle is mentioned in the Pacts of Zurich, Zug and Glarus with the Confederates (1351–1352) as the limit point of the mutual-aid circle. According to the official notice, the lords of Ringgenberg were said to be a branch of the Riggenberg family of Lake Brienz, who came to the Grisons during the Walser migrations and entered the service of Disentis. The site was abandoned in the 15th century; the tower, visible from afar, is freely accessible, but its intermediate floors have disappeared.