Alvaschein - St. Peter Mistail

St. Peter Mistail is the church of a former nunnery, located very secluded near the entrance to the "Schinschlucht", a 9kms long gorge. The building is (one of only two) Carolingian "three apses"-churches in Switzerland (Muestair is the second). It is known since 823, when it was mentioned in a letter to Louis the Pious.

The nunnery existed here upto 1154. the church is owned by the parish of Alvaschein since the 14th century. The buildings of the convent got lost over the centuries.

Archeologists proved in the 1960s/1970s, that the existing church was erected on the foundations of an even older one around 800. Even some Carolingian frescoes were found. That means it is about as old as the buildings in Muestair.

The frescoes seen inside the church today are not Carolingian, but younger. A few older traces can be found behind the altar. The pretty complete frescoe in the central apse is dated to the early 14th century and is Gothic. The frescoes on the left including the (7 meters high!) Saint Christopher are even younger. They were all created, when the church was used by the parish.