Old parish church of Vandans (cemetery church)

Two churches stand side by side at the cemetery in Vandans, and the older one tells the more interesting story. A chapel mentioned in 1479 became a chaplaincy of the mother church of Tschagguns in 1519, was enlarged into a church in 1614, and in 1651 Vandans became a parish of its own. St John's received its present Baroque form – nave, recessed choir, wooden-shingle roof and a tower that passes from square to octagon under an onion dome – from 1777 under master builder Josef Burtscher; Anton Marte painted the ceiling pictures in 1922. When the new parish church was finished in 1960, the old one was cleared out and decayed for three decades. Only a village committee pushed through its rescue from 1988 – on the first Sunday of Advent 1992 it was re-consecrated and has served since then as cemetery and funeral church. In 2020 it made headlines once more when a supposed relic of St James was found in the gilded tower ball.

From our house it is 14.2 km or 18 minutes; by bus take the 650 to Schruns and the Montafonerbahn on to Vandans station. We suggest seeing both churches together and then adding the Aktionsraum Naturgefahren in the Dorfstraße or the Golm cable car in Latschau.

Last updated: 13 Sep 2026