Church St. Martin, Medieval church in Old Town Chur, Switzerland
Church St. Martin is a late-Gothic church from the 15th century, located at Martinsplatz in the heart of Chur's Old Town in Switzerland. It has a tall nave and a tower that stands clearly above the surrounding rooftops, making it the largest late-Gothic church in the canton of Graubünden.
A church has stood on this site since the 8th century, with the first recorded consecration in 769. After a fire in 1464 nearly destroyed the building, it was rebuilt over the following decades into the late-Gothic structure seen today.
The church belongs to the Reformed Church of Graubünden and is still used for regular services today. Visitors notice the plain interior typical of Reformed churches, with no altarpieces or statues, only the colored light coming through the windows.
The church is right on Martinsplatz and easy to reach on foot from anywhere in the Old Town. Morning visits tend to be quieter and give the best light through the stained glass windows.
The three large stained glass windows inside were made in 1919 by Augusto Giacometti, a Swiss artist and cousin of the more famous Alberto Giacometti. He used bright, flat colors in a style that sits somewhere between Art Nouveau and early abstraction, which was unusual for a church at the time.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
