"First documented in 1142 and originally built as a simple hostel either by the Order of Saint Lazarus or the Augustinian monastery of Interlaken, no one is quite sure—today's much-modernised Grimsel Hospiz is marooned on a spur of sheer rock and snow at 2,000 metres (6,562 ft). Over the centuries it has been inhabited by monks, used by shepherds, needy travellers and soldiers, ravaged by fire and buried by an avalanche."
"The mountains reach up, but it is surrounded on three sides by plunging ravines and the frozen Grimselsee, which thaws to turquoise ice floes in spring. The scenery is stupendous."
"My visit began on a PostBus, the yellow stagecoaches that reach the parts of Switzerland that the railways can't. I was south-east of the village of Meiringen, having taken a train to Innertkirchen Kraftwerk, a station built 100 years ago to service the hydroelectric power plants hidden deep in the mountains."
The Grimsel Hospiz is a historic mountain inn located near the top of Grimsel Pass in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland, perched at 2,000 metres on a spur of rock and snow. First documented in 1142, it was originally built as a simple hostel by either the Order of Saint Lazarus or the Augustinian monastery of Interlaken. The building has served various purposes throughout centuries, including shelter for monks, shepherds, travellers, and soldiers, while enduring fires and avalanches. Today's modernised structure is surrounded on three sides by plunging ravines and the frozen Grimselsee reservoir. Access to the hospiz involves travelling via PostBus yellow stagecoaches through dramatic Alpine scenery, passing hydroelectric power stations hidden within the mountains.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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