Riom Castle

Riom Castle is a castle in the village of Riom-Parsonz (part of the municipality of Surses) of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Riom was inhabited during the Roman era, from the 1st century through the 4th. During this time, it was a mansio or way-station along the Julier Pass road. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, farmers and herders continued to live here during the Early Middle Ages. In 840 it was personally owned by the king of Raetia Curiensis and was a local administrative center as well as the site of major church. The church was given by King Arnulf to a vassal of his named Ruotpert, who in 904 traded it to Lorsch Abbey. Riom and the surrounding lands eventually passed to the Knights of Wangen-Burgeis in the early 13th century and around 1226 they built Riom Castle.

The original castle consisted of a slender, tall bergfried and an attached two-story palas. Not long after, a third story was added to the palas. These buildings were surrounded with a ring wall. The gatehouse was demolished in the past few centuries and no trace of it remains.

The castle and surrounding estates were sold by Berall von Wangen in 1258 to the Bishop of Chur for 300 silver Marks. However, to purchase the estates the Bishop had to put the castle up as collateral to secure a loan from the Freiherr von Vaz. In 1275 the Bishop paid off the loan and made Riom the center of the bailiwick of Oberhalbstein. Tolls and taxes from trade over the Julier and Septimer Passes brought a steady stream of money into the castle. By the early 14th century the Marmels family were the bailiffs of Riom, a post they held until 1426. During the 15th and 16th centuries a number of other noble Graubünden families were bailiffs at Riom. In 1468 Bishop Ortlieb von Brandis angered the League of God's House. They assembled an army, attacked several of the Bishop's estates, including Riom and Greifenstein, and occupied them. The Bishop was forced to ask the city of Zürich to intervene. Zürich negotiated with the League and convinced them to return the castles to the Bishop.

The Ilanzer Article of 1526 eliminated the worldly power of the Bishop, but change came slowly to the valley. In 1552 the communities of Surses bought their freedom from the Bishop, eliminating the need for a bailiff in the castle.

Text adapted from “Riom Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Riom Castle ranks #6,128 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #127 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lugano, 82 km away. It is one of the 24 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Graubünden. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗