Porta Romana

About this place

Across terraced ground, you reach Pfäfers from the Fluppi in Bad Ragaz. The historic road avoided the often flooded Rhine valley and led over the Kunkelspass to Tamins and further south. Very soon, you pass through the highest vineyards in eastern Switzerland. The monks of Pfäfers Monastery were already growing vines here up to 720 m a.s.l. The area gets its name from the former Roman barrier, Porta Romana, which once stood here on the slope. Impressive dry-stone walls, up to six metres high, line the old trade route. With support from the Fonds Landschaft Schweiz FLS, they have been restored. Dry-stone walls last a long time if each stone is dressed, that is, hammered, before being set. The negatively charged side of each stone touches the positively charged side of the next. This makes the wall stable. More than two hundred different plant species, including endangered and now rare ones, have found a habitat here in this somewhat forgotten, nature-close Garden of Eden, which they share with many animals. You will hardly be surprised to encounter many lizards, special butterflies, a wide variety of mosses and valuable species-rich meadows.