One of the three remaining towers on the city walls serves as the Old Town’s southwest entrance and exit. In bygone days, it was on the Ochsenplatz, located just behind the Obertor, that goods were exchanged for the last time before they were taken across the Alps.
Together with the Maltese tower and the Sennhof tower, the Obertor is one of the surviving towers of the mediaeval town fortifications. With its impressive appearance, the Obertor soon became a symbol of Chur. The four-storey tower, tapering towards the top, blends in with the structure of the housing development which is based on the town walls, but at the same time, with its ligher stonework, it stands out from the terraced row. The paintings in the archway date from the 20th century and are partly based on views of the Old Town.