Romanesque Church St. Niclà

24 July 2023

The 12th-century Romanesque church in St. Niclà (Canton of Graubünden) is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and children.

The church is near the bridge over the river Inn (En in Romansh along the old medieval road to Nauders. The Romanesque tower, the rectangular nave and the semicircular apse have been renovated.

After constructing a new road on the other (left) bank of the Inn in the sixteenth century, the church (and the bridge) lost its function and importance.

The west facade of the tower shows a fresco of St. Christopher with the coat of arms of the Porta and Von Marsch families. St. Christoforus is the patron saint of the bridge builders.

The frescoes were painted around 1500. The Von Marsch family owned castles in Tarasp and Ramosch.

The church got a new vault in 1718. Soon afterwards, however, the church lost its function after the construction of a new church in Strada (1750).

The church was used as a warehouse and extended with a farm afterwards. The secular use saved the Romanesque church in St. Niklà.

The Romanesque chapel in Donatyre (Canton of Vaud) and its beautiful wall paintings are another example of the combination of religious buildings and farming. The wall paintings are copies of the St. Etienne Church in Montcherand.

(Source and further information: www.san-nicla.ch).

St. Niclà and Strada