Crap Sogn Parcazi, Castle ruin and church building in Trin, Switzerland

Crap Sogn Parcazi is a ruined fortified church and castle on a flat 50 by 80 metre rock top at 1050 m above Trin. The church of St. Pancras, dated about 1100, stands in the centre; a rectangular cistern or baptistery, an 11 m by 7 m tower and an 18 m palas surround it within a ring wall.

The first church may date to the 8th century, possibly on a pre-Christian cult site, and served as a fortified refuge church. In 1314 the Herrschaft passed from Reichenau Abbey to the Freiherr von Frauenberg, and by 1325 it belonged to Count Hugo III von Werdenberg-Heiligenberg. On 2 July 1470 a fire destroyed the castle, killing three of Vogt Otto Capol's children and their maid; it was never rebuilt.

The Romansh name Crap Sogn Parcazi means "Rock of St. Pancras", after the church at its centre. The site may have been the first parish church of Tamins and Trin, and the rectangular room north of the nave is interpreted as an early Christian baptistery, possibly older than the church itself.

The ruins sit at 1050 m on a rock above the Porclas pass, west of Trin on the old road to Flims. A steep path from the PostAuto stop takes about fifteen minutes; the final climb is cut into the rock and secured with ropes.

The claim that Pepin, Charlemagne's father, founded the castle comes from early regional chronicles, not from the excavations; it remains unproven. The 1931 dig ran out of money and some uncovered walls collapsed, so the site was re-excavated and reinforced in 1964.