Bishop's castle

The court lies above the old town. Via a staircase and through a gate tower with a Gothic inn you get to a slanted, triangular square flanked on either side by the canons' residences.

On the upper right corner the square is met by the episcopal castle. The western counterpart to the cathedral got its present form during the time of Bishop Joseph Benedict von Rost (in office  1728-54). The complex is built around a central courtyard. The facade with its no more than three window axes is divided into two wide and one narrow central section by ascending pilasters. The lateral parts are topped by gables, the central part by a lucarne-like structure. For the sake of symmetry, the portal on the left-hand side got a counterpart on the right, which is merely the entrance to the carriage shed. The doors are adorned with bronze lion heads holding the door knockers. Doors and windows are decorated with stucco. Joseph Benedict von Rost was originally from South Tyrol, and it is little surprising that his work is heavily influenced by Austrian baroque. The Bishop succeeded in making the building step out of the cathedral's shadow and giving it its own unique character. Nowhere else in Graubünden will you find a sculpted exterior decoration as rich as this.