The Tuor Ardez or Vonzun Turm, a restored 13th century stone tower at Ardez, Graubünden or Grisons canton, eastern Switzerland, has served as a family stronghold, a prison and a detention centre and can now be rented for weddings, parties, seminars, exhibitions and concerts.
Ardez, Graubünden or Grisons canton, eastern Switzerland: the Tuor Ardez or Vonzun Turm is a 13th century medieval stone tower which served at various times as a family stronghold, a prison and a detention centre. It was restored in 2019 and can now be rented for weddings, parties, seminars, exhibitions and concerts. Ardez is known to have once had several medieval knightly towers, as well as its castle, Burg Steinsberg, but the Vonzun Turm is the only one to survive. Scientific tree-ring analysis of an interior timber suggests it dates from 1252. A chimney was inserted in the south wall in the 17th century and the original top floor was replaced in the 20th century by a flat pyramid roof. The tower’s first recorded owners were the von Planta family, powerful in medieval Graubündenland, and they were followed by the Vonzuns. A door latch bears the date 1685 and initials belonging to members of both families. From 1742, with the tower now owned by the Ardez municipality, it served as a district prison. The Swiss Army used it as a detention centre as late as 1970 and it is still popularly known locally, in the Romansh language, as the ‘Praschun’ (Prison). Most of the residents of Ardez still speak Romansh, a legacy language of the ancient Roman Empire. Ardez, now part of the municipality of Scuol, was first mentioned in 804 AD as Ardezis, but was known in the 1800s by the German name Steinsberg. The village stands in the Lower Engadine Valley, on a terrace above the River Inn, and is renowned for its superbly restored traditional 1500s and 1600s houses, many decorated with either paint or sgraffito. The best known, the ‘Adam and Eve House’, has a 17th century painted depiction of the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man across its facade.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Ardez, Graubünden or Grisons canton, eastern Switzerland
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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