As secondary education and teacher training were once the responsibility of the church, the grammar school and teacher training college have always been located next to the bishop's see of Chur: one at the top of the mountain, the other down in the valley. The merger of the two schools necessitated a route that was protected from the weather and accessible to all. Although this path is long and steep, it is also eventful – a dense sequence of views of the cathedral and old town, the Plessur and Rhine valleys. The change between the school buildings can thus become a welcome «time out» in the fresh air to look out into the distance and organise one's thoughts.
In order to convey the feeling of «being in the landscape», the route follows the topography as far as possible. When descending to the Plessure plain, passers-by therefore remain «on the mountain» for as long as the relief allows, then move «down the mountain» along the road embankment and enter «into the mountain» immediately before the road subway. A covered staircase finally leads the descender out of the interior of the rock.
As episodic, even random, as the course of the path may seem, the underlying considerations regarding the economical embedding in the terrain, the lighting and the dramaturgy of views and vistas are just as precise.
