Report: Churches

I ought to mention the churches in the places I visited at least in passing, since they tend to be primary landmarks within the villages and are important parts of everyday life. Most rural churches are fairly simple, the Protestant ones generally being more austere than the Catholic ones; they usually have plaster walls and wooden roofs. With their white walls, churches in Blockbau regions stand out sharply from their surroundings. One finds many a small (or sometimes fairly big, 57), pretty chapel in sometimes the most remote of places (58).

57. The large chapel of the small hamlet of Kühmad, Lötschental.

58. Chapel in the woods, near Schwenden, Diemtigtal.

Blatten in the Lötschental has a new (built 1985), modern-style church which somehow harmonizes well with the rest of the village despite its very different form (59). It is also beautifully designed on the inside (60).

59. The Blatten church.

60. The interior of the Blatten church.

Below is an assortment of churches I saw in other towns.

61. Erlenbach, Simmental. Note that the clock face is an image painted on the surface of the wall.

62. Ftan, Engadin.

63. Zernez, Engadin.

64. Exterior of church in Kippel, Lötschental.

65. Interior of the Kippel church.