Val Bregaglia

The Bergell ( in Bergeller dialect Val Bargaja, Italian Val Bregaglia ) is the valley of the upper Mera ( Maira in Bergeller dialect ) between the Maloja Pass ( 1,815 m above sea level. M. ) and Chiavenna ( 333 m). The upper and by far the largest part of the valley belongs to the district Bergell of the Swiss canton of Graubünden, the lower part of the Italian province of Sondrio. The name Bergell derives from the Latin Praegallia ( Vorgallien ).

Geography

In some cases even the Swiss part of the valley is called Bergell and the Italian part of the Val Chiavenna counted.

The valley falls into three stages from the Maloja Pass from: first on the level of Casaccia, which also provides access to the Septimer, then into the valley of Vicosoprano and Stampa. Below Stampa itself stands the castle reinforced Porta gorge that separates the valley into two sections Sopraporta and Sottoporta. On a terrace right above the Sottoporta is the village of Soglio.

The upper section, the Sopraporta, is still marked with alpine larch trees that glow in fiery autumn colors. The Sottoporta counts already Insubric zone; here you can find chestnut woods and later scattered palm trees.

The Bergell is deeply incised between the Bergeller Alps in the south and the Rhaetian Alps in the north. Showpiece are the Bergeller Alps, and particularly the three-thousand over the Val Bondasca ( Badile, Piz Cengalo, Gemelli and Sciora ), but also the further east rising group of Piz Bacun.

Three valleys open out from the Bergeller Alps from the south to Bergell: Val Forno, Val da l' Albigna and Val Bondasca.

Energy supply

In Natal the Albigensian Albigensian Nasee is blocked by a dam, which is taking advantage of the second valley levels of power generation. The concession for the power supply has the power station of Zurich ( EWZ ) City, operator of power plants Löbbia, Bondo and Castasegna. The pipelines Castasegna - Vicosoprano and Vicosoprano - Tinizong wants to expand from 220 kV to 380 kV EWZ.

Dialect

The Bergeller dialect, the " Bargaiot " strongly resembles the Romanche, as it is spoken in the neighboring Upper Engadine. That one however decided for the Italian as an official language, is due to the northern Italian religious refugees, who introduced the Reformation in Bergell and preached in Italian. As a reformer of Bergells especially Pietro Paolo Vergerio.

Within the Bergells Sopraporta, Sottoporta and Soglio 've ever their own sub- dialect.

History

In the lower Bergell at September 4, 1618 a terrible landslide. From Mount Conto dissolved as a result of undercuts by soapstone mining large masses of rock, which the town Piuro ( Plurs ), then the most prosperous place in Graubünden, for the most part and the village Chilano ( Schilan ) buried completely under rock debris. Approximately 2430 people were killed.

Art, Culture and Tourism

The Bergell is made famous by the Italian painter Giovanni Segantini and the Giacometti family of artists from Stampa. The artist Elvezia Michel - Baldini appeared in Bergell. Rainer Maria Rilke lived among other things, in Soglio. By Bergell result of marked hiking trails of the Via Bregaglia.