Ruínas do Castelo de Splügen

The publicly accessible Splügen castle ruins are located on a rocky peak east of the village of the same name. The castle can only be reached without a motor vehicle; it takes about ten minutes to walk from the village. There are various theories about when the castle was built, but the latest research suggests that it was built around 1340 by the Counts of Werdenberg-Sargans.

The ruins of the former Splügen Castle lie east of the village of Splügen in the Rheinwald.
In terms of the type of building, Splügen Castle, with its door and window shapes and tuff façade stones, fits well into the second half of the 13th century. It is conceivable that it was built around 1275. At that time, the valley of the Rheinwald was part of the county of Schams, which was a fief of the bishopric of Chur and was in the hands of the Barons of Vaz and later the Counts of Werdenberg. The Barons of Sax-Misox tried to advance their rule from Misox over the San Bernardino by settling Walsers. In 1274, they issued a letter of protection to a group of Walsers in Mesocco.
The appearance of Walsers on the border of their territory must have alarmed the Barons of Vaz, who were also trying to expand their territory in the sparsely populated valleys. In 1277, the Walsers came under the protection of the Vazers. From this it can be assumed that Splügen Castle was previously built, together with Letzi, around 1275 by the Barons of Vaz to prevent the advance of the Misoxers. The Walsers probably felt safer under the rule of the House of Vaz than under the Barons of Sax-Misox, who resided on the other side of the pass.
When the advance of the Misoxers was averted and the Walser colony expanded, Splügen Castle lost its strategic importance. The scarce sources also suggest that it was only used for a short period of time. As early as 1308, a sales letter only mentions a castle stable and a farmstead: "to the Burggstal with its usual hofraiti".
By the beginning of the 14th century, the castle had clearly already fallen into disrepair. In 1462, Jörg von Werdenberg sold the Rheinwaldner Amman a rent "from the property by the castle", which probably also meant the former Splügen Castle. It is not mentioned whether the castle was still standing.
When Jörg von Werdenberg sold the Rheinwald in 1493 to the Milanese military leader Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Lord of Sax-Misox, the Splügen Castle was no longer mentioned.
Text / Source: Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Spl%C3%BCgen