The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja in the canton of the

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cantu ...

, the lower part within the Italian

province of Sondrio The Province of Sondrio ( it, provincia di Sondrio) is in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Sondrio. As of 2017, it has a population of 181,403. History The Province was established in 1815, within ...

. The valley includes the Swiss former municipalities of

Vicosoprano Vicosoprano is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and is the largest village in the Val Bregaglia. It's now part of the municipality of Bregaglia. History Vicosoprano is first mentioned in 1096 as ...

Stampa Stampa is a former municipality in the Maloja district of the Swiss canton, Graubünden. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia. History Stampa is first mentioned after 1354 as ''Stamppa'' and was named so in honor of the Stampa fami ...

, Bondo, Soglio and

Castasegna Castasegna () is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Grisons, on the Italian border. It is currently part of the municipality of Bregaglia. The town is situated in the Bergell valley, above the river Mera. ...

(now consolidated into the municipality of

Bregaglia Bregaglia ( Italian and rm, ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It was formed by the 2010 merger of the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano, all located in the V ...

); and the Italian municipalities of

Villa di Chiavenna Villa di Chiavenna is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. Villa di Chiavenna borders the following m ...

Piuro Piuro (''Piür'' in the local dialect) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 2004 ...

, and

Chiavenna Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...

. The Swiss part of the valley is inhabited by the descendants of Italian

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

s, some descending from those who settled here in the mid-16th century to avoid persecution by the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances ...

, and today about 75% of the population is Protestant. The local dialect is a variety of Lombard with similarities to neighboring dialects of Romansh. Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (EWZ) operates three

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

s in the valley at Vicosoprano, Bondo and Castasegna. The hydroelectric project at Vicosoprano was formed by damming the river Albigna, forming Lake Albigna. Located approximately 1000 m above the town and set back, the site is reachable by ''Albigna Bahn'', an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

operated by EWZ. A tract of the valley has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Geography

The valley begins at the

Maloja Pass Maloja Pass (Italian: ''Passo del Maloja'', German: ''Malojapass'') (1815m a.s.l.) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden, linking the Engadine with the Val Bregaglia, still in Switzerland and Chiavenna in It ...

(1815 m) which connects it to the

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''G ...

(the valley of the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

, which is part of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

basin). There the river Orlegna extends westwards and joins the river Mera to

shortly after which the Mera joins with the Liro and turns south towards

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thi ...

. From Chiavenna to Maloja, a distance of 32 km, the valley rises 1482 m. In this valley sources of three important basins have their origin: the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sour ...

(through the Avers Rhine), which runs to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegia ...

, the

, which runs to the

(near

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

), and the rivers Mera and Adda, which run to the Po. The

Bregaglia Range The Bregaglia Range (commonly the Bregaglia) is a small group of mostly granite mountains in Graubünden, Switzerland and the Province of Sondrio, northern Italy. It derives its name from the partly Swiss, partly Italian valley, the ''Val Brega ...

is the group of mountains to the south of the valley.

Name

Some scholars, including E. Dubois and James S. Reid, asserts the valley takes its name from the ''Bergalei'' Alpine tribe that inhabited it, a name otherwise lost except for a mention on ''

Tabula clesiana The ''Tabula clesiana'' is a bronze plate size cm. 49.9 x 37.8 x 0.61, discovered in 1869 at Campi Neri near Cles in Trentino, northern Italy. It contains the edict of the Caesar Claudius of 46 AD which granted the Roman citizenship to the Alpin ...

'', a Roman plate. On the other hand, 18th-century documents derive modern Lombard ''Bregaglia'' from Middle Latin ''Pregallia'' ("pre-Gaul, anterior Gaul"). The Latin name ''Pregallia'' was used for the valley from at least the 13th century.Egbert Friedrich von Mülinen, ''Prodromus: einer schweizerischen Historiographie'' (1874), p. 106.

References

External links

{{Authority control Valleys of the Alps

Important Bird Areas of Switzerland rm:Bregaglia