Vella is a village and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of

Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.canton of Graubünden in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen,

Lumbrein Lumbrein is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, Suraua, Vignogn, Vella, and Vrin merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of ...

Morissen Morissen () is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Surselva (district), Surselva in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Switzerland, Degen, ...

, Suraua,

Vignogn Vignogn is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, Suraua, Vignogn, Vella, and Vrin merged on 1 January 2013 into the new munici ...

, Vella, and

Vrin Vrin () is a village and a former municipality in the Lumnezia. It belonged to the circle of Lugnez/Lumnezia in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, ...

merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of

Lumnezia Lumnezia is a valley region and a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss of canton of Graubünden. The former municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, Suraua, Vignogn, Vella, and Vrin merged on 1 January 2013 into the ...

History

While there is some evidence of a late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement and coins from the 3rd and 4th Centuries have been found, Vella is first mentioned about 840 as ''ad sanctum Vincentium ..in valle Leguntia''. In 1290-98 it was mentioned as ''ad Ville, aput Villam''. The village church was the center of a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

that covered the entire valley. However, about 1300

Vals Vals is the word for waltz in many European languages. Vals or VALS may also refer to: * Peruvian waltz The vals criollo (), or Peruvian waltz (), is an adaptation of the European waltz brought to the Americas during colonial times by Spain. In ...

separated from the parish due to the desire of

Walser German Walser German () and Walliser German (, locally ) are a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in parts of Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Grisons), Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), Liechtenstein (Triesenberg, Planken), and Austria (Vorarlberg ...

speaking

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Swiss Alps, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser peopl ...

immigrants to have their own religious leadership. Over the following centuries, most of the other villages in the valley also separated from the Vella parish (the most recent being Peiden in 1910). Due to the village's function as a religious center and the power of a local patrician family, ''de Mont'', Vella grew to be the most powerful village in the valley. Since 1887, it has been home to the sub-district secondary school.

Coat of arms

The description of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is ''Azure a Pelican in Piety Argent.'' The

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

, which according to legend feeds its young with its own blood, is a symbol for the death of Jesus. By extension, it can also represent the entire church. In this case, it stands for the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

for the Lugnez valley, which is in Degen.

Geography

Vella had an area, , of . Of this area, 69.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (7.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The former municipality is located in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district. It is located at ft altitude on a plateau in the centre of the

, a high alpine valley. The municipality consists of the village Villa and the church St. Vincent in Pleif built on a ridge overlooking the Glenner/Glogn gorge, a tributary to the

Vorderrhein The Vorderrhein (; ; ; ; ), or Anterior Rhine, is the left of the two initial tributaries of the Rhine (the other being the '' Hinterrhein''). It is longer than the ''Hinterrhein'', but has a lower discharge than the latter at their confluence, w ...

. The highest elevation is Mount Stein at altitude. Until 1987 Vella was known as Villa (GR).Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

Vella had a population (as of 2011) of 438.Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB
''Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter'' accessed 3 October 2012 , 2.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -3.4%. Most of the population () speaks Romansh (83.9%), with German being second most common (13.6%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.1%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 25-Nov-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Vella is; 63 children or 14.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 54 teenagers or 12.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 44 people or 10.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 61 people or 13.8% are between 30 and 39, 82 people or 18.6% are between 40 and 49, and 44 people or 10.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 37 people or 8.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 34 people or 7.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 21 people or 4.8% who are between 80 and 89,and there is 1 person who is between 90 and 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 54.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (23.8%), the FDP (14.2%) and the SP (7.8%). In Vella about 70.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Vella has an unemployment rate of 0.86%. , there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 66 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there are 10 businesses in this sector. 101 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

, with 27 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Weather

Vella has an average of 116 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. The wettest month is August during which time Vella receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 11.7, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 11.5 days., the weather station elevation is 1245 meters above sea level.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Church of S. Vincenz/St. Vincent is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 25-Nov-2009 The church is first mentioned about 843, when it was given Imperial support. It later came under the patronage of the Welfs and in the mid 10th century came under the authority of the cathedral of

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

. By the 14th Century it was owned by the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

of Belmont, but in 1371 was inherited by the family of Sax-Misox. Then, in 1483 it came under the authority of the

Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Diocese of Chur in Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Gothic/ Romanesque church was rebuilt in 1661-62.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060831052718/http://www.vallumnezia.ch/ * {{Authority control Lumnezia Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Former municipalities of Graubünden