The Val Bregaglia (in German Bergell) is a wild and romantic gorge, enclosed between towering granite mountains, which descends in a series of terrace-like steps from the Majola pass (1,815 m/5,955ft) to the Italian town of Chiavenna (333 m/1,093ft), 32km/20mi southwest. The high valley of the River Mera, which eventually flows into Lake Como, begins by falling steeply down from the pass (the watershed between the Val Bregaglia and the Engadine) and then descends to Chiavenna in six stages, the first four of which are within the canton of Grisons. The oddly shaped crags, buttresses and pinnacles of this mountain world are a climber's paradise, and the picturesque villages with their old patrician houses are a reminder of the long history of this region, which began in Roman times. Beyond the pass the road leads down in a series of 13 hairpin bends, with gradients of up to 9%, into the green valley below.
The highest village in the Val Bregaglia valley is Casáccia (1,458 m/4,784ft; pop. 60), from which the old bridle-path, one of the busiest routes through the Alps in medieval times, crossed the Pass da Sett (Septimer pass) to Bivio in the Sursés (Oberhalbstein) valley. The ruined Turratsch watch-tower and the 16th C. hospice are relics of these earlier days. A cableway 2,500 m/8,203ft long belonging to the hydroelectric station which supplies power to Zurich (available for the transport of visitors by prior arrangement) leads up to the Albigna reservoir (2,163 m/7,097ft: dam 115 m/377ft high).
22km/14mi from the Majola pass the road reaches the Italian frontier at Castasegna (697 m/2,287ft; pop. 220), a trim village of southern aspect surrounded by luxuriant vegetation and the beautiful chestnut wood of Brentan. Underground hydroelectric power station (50 by 25 m/164 by 82ft).
The Italian town of Chiavenna lies at the junction of the Spluga (Splügen) and Majola pass routes. The Roman Clavenna occupied a key strategic position, as its name (from clavis, "key") implies. From 1512 to 1797 it was in the Grisons. Its principal church, San Lorenzo, has an octagonal baptistery (font of 1156).
In the Ciäsa Granda (the "large house") is a fascinating museum devoted to the Val Bregaglia (collection of minerals, a weaving room, elegant living rooms and domestic utensils as well as paintings by the Giacomettis).
Address: Museo Ciäsa Granda, Società Culturale di Bregaglia, CH-7605 Vicosoprano, Switzerland
Hours:
June 1 to October 20: 2pm-5pm
Tips: Phone for guided visits not during regular opening hours. Tel: (82) 4 11 82.
Vicosoprano (1,067m/3,501ft; pop. 400) was originally the chief settlement in Val Bregaglia valley. Sixteenth century patrician houses; Senwelenturm, a 13th century tower 23m/75ft high; courthouse, with torture chamber; Town Hall (1584); church (1761).
A medieval circular tower with old prisons and torture chamber for witch trials (opening times given), attached to the town hall, was built in 1583.
Read More
Read More
Read Less
