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

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

valley of Switzerland and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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 lower part within the Italian province of Sondrio. 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 a ...

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 Val ...

); 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 ...

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 20 ...

, and Chiavenna. 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 b ...

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 an ...

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 by BirdLife International.

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 ...

(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 , p ...

basin). There the river Orlegna extends westwards and joins the river Mera to Chiavenna shortly after which the Mera joins with the Liro and turns south towards Lake Como. 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= , so ...

(through the

Avers Rhine The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Course It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer ...

), which runs to the

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

, the

, which runs to the

(near Passau), and the rivers Mera and Adda, which run to the Po. The Bregaglia Range 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