Chur

Chur (in Romansh, Cuera; in French, Coire; in Italian, Coira), town, eastern Switzerland. The capital of Graubünden canton, it is located 24 km (15 mi) south of the Liechtenstein border and 71 km (44 mi) south-east of Schwyz. It lies near the confluence of the Vorderrhein and the Hinterrhein rivers, where they join to form the Rhine. The massive stone houses, the mild climate, and the orchards and vineyards situated on the edges of the city all add to Chur's appeal as a tourist resort. The city exports Switzerland’s most popular bottled mineral water and is also noted for timber production. From Chur, roads and railways lead into the Swiss Alps. The region also controls the communication routes in the upper valleys of the Danube, Po, and Rhine rivers. The inhabitants of the region speak Italian, German, and five different dialects of Romansh.

The house of the Buol family, now the Rhaetian Museum, contains books and paintings related to Jürg Jenatsch, a patriot of Graubünden. The Cathedral of St Lucius, fashioned in both Gothic and Romanesque styles, was built between 1178 and 1282 and has a richly ornamented interior. Other notable buildings in Chur include the town hall and the Villa Planta art gallery. The town was the birthplace of the Swiss painter Angelica Kauffmann in 1741.

Chur was an important town of the Roman province of Rhaetia and was known as Curia Rhaetorum. In ad 452 the town became the seat of a bishopric; today an episcopal court still stands above Chur on the spot where the Romans once maintained a fortress controlling the valley. In 1170 the bishops became princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Chur accepted the Reformation in 1524 and, in 1803, the town was instituted as the capital of the new canton of Graubünden when the reconstituted Swiss Confederation was ratified. Population 32,409 (2005 estimate).