Evangelical church Safien Platz

Today's late Gothic church from 1510 replaces an older building dating back to the Romanesque period, when the Rhaeto-Romanic people still called the Safiental their own around the year 800. In the 14th century, the Walser arrived in the Safiental from the Rheinwald via the Safierberg and Löchliberg. The Walser took over the existing chapel at the entrance to the Carnusa Gorge. The parish of Safien was founded in 1350. Ten years later, the church received a bell, which still calls the faithful together today.

The new church was consecrated in 1510 in honor of John the Baptist. It bears the signature of master craftsman Andres Bühler from Gmünd in Carinthia. His master's mark and the date of construction can be seen in the choir vault. He also built the village church in Thusis. The late Gothic, south-east-facing building consists of a nave and a choir closed on three sides. A two-bay star vault above the choir. Two pointed arched windows with fish-bubble mullions above central pillars. Gothic beveled door in the south wall, above the nave a diamond vault of three bays. A wooden gallery on the north and west walls.The tower: stands on the south side, with an ogival and a round-arched light slit. The belfry has an octagonal pointed spire.
Above the nave is a diamond vault with striking paintings. Flowers, a stork (symbolizing the resurrection and return of Christ), two crossed crane necks (symbolizing unity and vigilance) and masks with caps (symbols of the past and future) adorn the vaulting. The keystones bear the monogram of Christ, the coat of arms of the Upper League and of Abbess Margareta von Reitnau of Cazis Abbey, who commissioned the construction of the church (black sphere). The third keystone is pierced. It was called the “Heiliggeistloch” in pre-Reformation times. During the Pentecost service, a white, wooden dove was suspended from a rope above the worshippers as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.