
The Val Calanca is a valley of the
Swiss Alps
The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
, located in the
Lepontine Alps
The Lepontine Alps (, , ) are a mountain range in the north-western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Canton of Uri, Uri and Graubünden) and Italy (Piedmont and Lombardy).
The Simplon Tunnel, Simplon rail tunnel ...
. The valley is drained by the
Calancasca, a tributary of the
Moesa (
Ticino
Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
basin), at
Roveredo. The highest mountains surrounding the Val Calanca are the
Puntone dei Fraciòn (3,202 metres) and the
Zapporthorn (3,152 metres).
Geography
The valley extends 26km from North to south.
The valleys main river is the
Calancasca. The Lago de Calvaresc is located within the Natural park, east of Rossa.
The highest mountains are the
Puntone dei Fraciòn (3,202 metres) at the border to Tessin, and the
Zapporthorn (3,152 metres). Several mountain passes exist connecting the Val Calanca to the neighbouring valleys.
Human geography
The valley belongs to the
Moesa District, in the
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
canton of
Graubünden. The main villages are (from north to south):
Rossa,
Cauco,
Selma,
Arvigo,
Buseno and
Santa Maria in Calanca.
Due to migration out of the valley there were about 800 inhabitants in 2021.
Castaneda, Switzerland was formerly surrounded by chestnut trees, threatened by overgrowth of taller trees. Landarenca can only be visited on foot, its 10 inhabitants live of tourism. The only major industry in the Val Calanca is a quarry, producing 10,000 cubic metres of
Gneiss
Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
per year. In Rossa, archeologists discovered 1 kilometer of dry stone walls of a settlement called scatta from the 16th century. The British painter
David Tremlett painted the exterior of 3 historic churches.
Braggio is the highest situated village and also can only be reached by foot or gondola.
Avalanche barriers from stone are being replaced with 4 m high steel constructions anchored up to 8 m in the ground there. At the Alp di Stabveder, a grey goat typical for teh valley was preserved. In Rossa
References
External links
*
Swisstopo
Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland's national mapping agency.
The current name was made official in 2002. It had been used as the domain name for the homepage of the instituteswisstopo.admi ...
maps
Val Calanca on MySwitzerland
{{Coord, 46, 20, 09, N, 9, 07, 08, E, region:CH-GR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Valleys of the Alps
Valleys of Graubünden
Lepontine Alps