Exploring the Valais at the Doorstep to Switzerland’s Legendary Gemmi Pass

Our Second Installment in the Valais

The complete walk into the Pfynwald and then back up to the town of Leuk forms most of a 10 km (6 mile) figure 8. If you have the better part of a day, the full walk is an excellent trip and the two ends, with almost entirely different landscapes, play on one another quite nicely. From either side of the valley you get complementary views of the other but, of course, if you are short on time, you can easily choose just one of the loops.

You can follow along with our two-part walk using the interactive map above

Welcome to the second installment in our special two-part episode visiting Switzerland’s remote Canton of Valais. If you didn’t catch last week’s post, we visited the Pfynwald forest and investigated the Valais’ enigmatic language boundary. It’s a fascinating mystery and I highly recommend that you go back and check it out if you haven’t already.

This week, we pick up right where we left off, back at the Leuk train station in the bottom of the Valais’ Rhône River Valley. From there, we head up the hill along the long-abandoned line of the Leukerbad railway into the historic town of Leuk, explore the Leuk castle, and the town center then head up into the vines for some absolutely fantastic views and maybe even a nice sip of Valais wine before catching a bus to save your knees on the descent back to the train station.

Bridges, Bridges, and More Bridges

Looking down the Rhône at a couple of the bridges proliferating this spot

The web of bridges, all at slightly different angles and heights, might look right at home in urban Los Angeles but here, in rural Leuk, it’s almost a bit comical. The infrastructure takes advantage of this narrow and dammed section of the Rhône, just upstream of a 7 km long undisturbed stretch of river in the Pyn-Finges.

In reality, the reason for such a proliferation of bridges is also rather mundane. Each belongs to a different era showing off both the ongoing development of transport through the Valais but also the reluctance to demolish a perfectly good bridge that might one day be repurposed.

I would go through the history of this mix of road, rail, and pedestrian crossings but it’s about as exciting as you might expect for modern infrastructure so I will leave you to work it out.

From the main Leuk train station we follow the yellow hiking signs towards the Rhône past the Leuk bus terminal. From 1915 to 1967 a racked narrow-gauge railway, the Leuk-Leukerbad Bahn (LLB for short), served the route we are about to take up into Leuk. The rail line continued on from there on to Leukerbad at the base of Gemmi Pass. In a nod to the past, today’s LLB busses serve the same route.

By the 1950’s the aging rolling stock of the LLB was in desperate need of replacement but high operating costs and demand for better road access ultimately led to the decision to shut down the line. Closure of the line also saw the removal of most of the railway infrastructure but, not everything was scrapped. Most of the rail grade has been converted into a road allowing us to follow the path of the rail up into Leuk.

A bridge over the Rhône, just past the bus terminal, is our first stop. While nothing particularly spectacular to look at, this old trestle bridge, now serving only pedestrians, once carried the LLB over the Rhone on its way up to Leuk. A quick look up and down the river from here reveals no less than 5 bridges and a dam within 200 meters.

Up the Grade of the LLB

Across the bridge we take a staircase skipping one of the switchbacks of the former LLB line then continue along the grade to the Ringackerkapelle. Technically a chapel, this well-appointed and sizeable baroque masterpiece from the late 17th Century is fancifully decorated in proper Catholic style. The chapel, built with the funds of the citizens of Leuk, owes its name to the location, the site of a walled plague cemetery built about 50 years prior that came to be frequented by pilgrims. If you think that’s a bit creepy you probably won’t like what’s coming up in a bit…

Ringackerkapelle just below the town of Leuk

The views across and down the Rhône River valley are already stunning from the chapel but get better as you make your way further up the hill.

Just past the chapel and back on the old rail grade you pass under a small underpass. Had it not been pointed out to me at the time, I am not sure I would have actually noticed but there are huge crystals, likely from caves nearby in the Valais, concreted into the roof of the underpass. This fun art project gives the tunnel the look of something out of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and I am sure it lights up the eyes of most anyone who knows to look.

Eventually the rail grade brings you to the base of Schloss Leuk and some fantastically old buildings on the edge of the Leuk old-town. Constructed in the 14th Century as the summer residence for the Bishop of Sion, Schloss Leuk is, like many of its contemporary castles a total mish-mash of designs and styles. In the 15th Century, the Castle was partially destroyed during the Rarner war and in the early 16th Century, the hulking Gothic town hall was built on the spot.

Famous Ticino Architect Mario Botta capped the Bishop’s Castle with a fairly iconic glass cupola during renovations in 1999 giving the building a bit of a lighthouse look that persists today.

While you usually can’t go inside the castle (unless you plan an event or win the local poetry contest and get offered a free room for the year), the courtyard and its benches are typically open. The views from the castle courtyard are unbelievable and provide an excellent overview of the Pfynwald and Illgraben on the opposite side of the valley. From this vantage point, the valley almost looks small and you immediately understand why this site was chosen. You can see any potential enemies coming from many miles away and views are fit for royalty (pretty much fitting of a Medieval Bishop with as many secular powers as religious).

Schloss Leuk and the Leuk Rathaus

Views from the courtyard of Schloss Leuk

Into the Town of Leuk

After soaking in the gorgeous views from the castle, we keep heading up the hill into the heart of the Leuk old town. In general, the medieval town vibe is colorful and well kept speaking to a wealthy community in its day. During the 13th and 14th Centuries, Leuk established itself on the Italian-French trade route and even formed a middle-age version of the teamsters, providing extra pack animals and wagons to get goods over the mountain passes.

As far as Swiss cities go, Leuk is actually quite old. The area was inhabited by pre-Roman Celts who appeared to have made significant use of Gemmi Pass, just up valley from here, to transit between the Valais and the Berner Oberland. While these Celtic people were eventually colonized by the Romans, Alemanni advances around the 11th Century started pushing out the Roman culture. Interestingly, here, high up in the mountains, there was a significant Roman minority all the way into the 14th Century.

The highlight of the town center is the iconic St. Stephan’s church. While there has been a church on this site since at least the 6th or 7th century, the oldest portion of the current building, the churches spectacular bell tower, dates to the 12th century. Most of the rest of the church, in its heavily gothic style, dates to the end of the 15th century.

The inside of the church is quite interesting with the remains of once quite detailed frescos scattered about. My favorite, found next to the pews on the southern wall depicts a detailed mermaid scene. Nothing like a good mermaid to get Medieval Christians in the religious mood.

The Bell Tower of St. Stephan's Church in the center of the old town of Leuk

Mermaids adorning the walls of the Church in Leuk

Beneath St. Stephan's

Excavations in the 1980’s revealed portions of an older church beneath the current St. Stephan’s cathedral as well as a number of grave sites, not so uncommon during this period. Most of these skeletal remains were moved to the cemetery before construction of a new heating system but one proved a quite unusual and rare find which can now be found on display down a small, unassuming staircase in the corner of the church.

As you fiddle to get the lights on, try not to be too surprised when they come on… Just at the bottom of the stairs lies an old wooden coffin and the fully clothed and mummified remains of an unidentified 17th century woman. Based on the position of her burial, this woman clearly drew the respect of the community but not much more is known about her.

While no King Tutankhamun, the fully clothed Woman from Leuk has provided a window into 17th Century fashion and, since her preservation in the 1990’s, has found herself in exhibitions across the country.

Now, if you were thinking that a mummy was the pinnacle of today’s creepy Adams Family vibes, you would be very much mistaken.

Just outside, along the southern foundation of St. Stephan’s, a door leads under the Church Nave and into the Ossuary Leuk also known as the Beinhaus.

During the same 1980’s excavations of St. Stephan’s that saw the discovery of the Woman of Leuk, the rear and side plaster walls of this small chapel were removed revealing a substantially larger room (nearly double the size) and, possibly the most gruesome of all discoveries, floor to ceiling stacks of human skulls carefully balanced on top of one another with the aid of supporting long bones.

The sight upon entering the chapel nearly stopped me in my tracks but once I got over the immediate shock of the affair, I actually found the room to be quite powerful. An inscription in the chapel reads something to the effect of: “What you are, we once were. What we are, you will become.”

Honestly, nothing really highlights the fragility and brevity of life quite as well as staring at the remains of 20,000 nameless individuals, all of whom had families and friends, lives long lost to the ravages of time.

There are a number of probably false rumors for the bone collection floating around on the internet, from plague victims to soldiers who died during the 1799 Battle of the Pfyn Forest when the French invaded, defeating troops of the Upper Valais in the Pfynwald. The most widely accepted explanation is that these were once 16th Century Leuk residents. With limited space in the consecrated cemetery, the bones eventually made their way here into the chapel until changing tastes led to the plastering over of the walls.

The inside of the Beinhaus in Leuk

Into the Vines

Powerful message or not, I was still rather glad to make our visit to the Beinhaus a brief one. In an effort to make the most out of our newfound lease on life, we raided the ice cream freezer of the local market across the street and relaxed in the shade next to the church for a bit before heading off further up the hill.

I think one of the best parts about Switzerland is the ability to just keep going. There are literally trails and paths everywhere. This is partially a holdover from times when transit mostly consisted of your own two feet, but it’s also an ongoing effort to preserve paths for recreation. While we intended to complete our walk in Leuk, the sugar rush gave us a bit of an energy boost and we were keen to keep walking.

If you continue up the hill out of Leuk and follow the yellow hiking signs towards Leukerbad you eventually find yourself in the vines with exceptional views over the Leuk old town. Leuk, and the Valais more generally, has been growing wine grapes since before the time of the Romans and you can tell. Valais wines are generally fantastic.

The views from the path above Leuk with the vines down below

Some 390, mostly small, Valais wine growers cultivate over 50 varietals on the dry south-facing slopes of the Rhône River valley. As an alternative to ice cream (the selection of which is incredibly limited), pop into one of the few restaurants in the old town of Leuk and grab a glass of local wine, chances are you won’t regret it.

While you can easily find a nice French or Italian wine in your local grocery store, you would be hard pressed to find a Swiss wine outside of Switzerland. Nearly 90% of Swiss wine is consumed in Switzerland. That is certainly not for lack of quality or even necessarily production but rather high local demand. Here in the Valais and further down towards Lake Geneva, vines are omni-present, but the Swiss simply love their wine and consume it so vivaciously that there isn’t much left to go around.

The End of Our Walk

Continuing up the path takes you past some of the terraces and dry stacked walls which have enabled agriculture on these steep slopes for centuries. While not strictly necessary to continue up from here, there is a conveniently located bus stop on the road above which can save your knees on the return trip down the valley.

Following the path also lets you peer down a bit into the Dala gorge, arguably a more impressive feature than the Illbach on the opposite slope. The river here has carved a deep valley into the steep limestone creating a natural barrier that protected the town of Leuk up on the hill from both flooding and invaders to the south. In fact, in 1386, Leuk successfully halted the advance of the Count of Savoy into the upper Valais by simply destroying the bridge over the Dala.

Upon hitting the main road, you have two bus options from the Bus Stop Leuk, St. Barbara. You can head back down the hill to Leuk and the train station to catch a connection pretty much anywhere in Switzerland, or you can take the bus further up the hill and soak in the thermal baths at Leukerbad under the towering peaks and Gemmi pass. No wrong answers here.

We hope you enjoyed this two-part episode on the Valais in our One Year: 26 Canton Series. Check out the project for even more and don’t forget to join us next week as we stick a bit closer to home and take a wild and wacky trip to Frutigen.

Until next time, gute Reise. Feel free to leave a comment on one of our social media platforms and, if you enjoy our posts, share them with your friends!

Looking at the town of Leuk from the Pfynwald on the other side of the Rhône River valley. The Dala Gorge is seen next to Leuk at the base of the valley while the Gemmi Pass is at the top of the valley.