Schaan

Schaan is the largest municipality in Liechtenstein by population, just north of Vaduz, and under and around the church of St Peter are the remains of a late Roman fort built to guard the road along the Rhine, excavated and partly visible. The town is otherwise the country's industrial and commercial centre with the main railway station and the theatre. The fort was one of a chain built along the Rhine in the late Roman period to hold the frontier, and the church was raised directly on top of it centuries later. Schaan holds around six thousand people, which makes it the largest settlement in the country.

Background

Schaan lies north of Vaduz in the centre of the country and had 6,039 residents in 2019. Its 26.92 square kilometres take in mountains and forest, and it also owns four exclaves, Gritsch, Guschg, Brunnenegg and Plankner Neugrütt. Archaeological finds show that people have lived here for over 6,000 years. In the 1st century AD a Roman road from Milan to Bregenz passed this way, following the Luzisteig on the Rhine's right bank. Excavations inside a church uncovered a 5th century baptistery, a sign of early Christianity. The town was once made up of two separate parts, a split still visible in its two alpine cooperatives, the North-Alemannic Gritsch and the Rhaeto-Roman Guschg.

Source: Wikipedia, "Schaan"

The main sights

• The Roman fort remains - the late fort walls at the church of St Peter.
• St Peter's church - the building standing on the Roman site.
• The industrial centre - the country's main commercial and manufacturing base.
• The theatre - the TAK, Liechtenstein's main performance venue.

When to go

Year round. The Roman remains are open ground. The theatre programme runs through the winter season.

Things to know

The town is workaday and largely modern. The Roman remains are fragmentary and take interpretation. It functions as a base rather than a destination.

Nearby

Vaduz is south, and Planken is east.

Key facts