HAND TO HAND
The Third Day
This time the itinerary was to bring us from Coira, the oldest continually inhabited urban settlement in Switzerland. The morning augured well, since it began with a visit to the Cathedral in order to see the world famous late gothic altar, the great and well-merited boast of the city. No illustration either in black and white or color in any conceivable book on the history of art can possibly prepare the visitor for the impact of a first encounter with this masterpiece.
Now the riverside road leads through a landscape scattered with the ruins of the medieval mountain strongholds until arrival at Zillis, where travellers may visit the Church of Saint Martin with its Thirteenth Century ceiling whose 153 panels depict scenes from the Bible.
From the nearby town of Andeer, a mandatory stop at the impressive falls that rush through the Gola di Ralfa is in order, and then on through the year-round Saint Bernardino Pass. By midday, the journey has brought us once more into Bellinzona. |
