Val Bregaglia
The Val Bregaglia (Lombard:
Val Bargaja, German:
das Bergell, Romansh:
The Bregaglia Range is the group of mountains to the south of the valley. Curiously, it is only in this valley in the whole Europe where the sources of three important basins (which run to different seas) have their origin: the Rhine (which runs to the North Sea), the Inn (which runs to Black Sea) and the Po (running to Adriatic Sea).
The valley includes the Swiss former municipalities of Vicosoprano, Stampa, Bondo, Soglio and Castasegna (now consolidated into the municipality of Bregaglia); and the Italian municipalities of Villa di Chiavenna, Piuro, and Chiavenna.
Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (EWZ) operates three hydroelectric power plants 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 an aerial tramway operated by EWZ.
The Swiss part of the valley is inhabited by the descendants of Italian Protestants who came to Switzerland in the mid-16th century to avoid persecution by the Inquisition, and today about 75% of the population is Protestant.[1] The local dialect is a variety of Lombard with similarities to neighboring dialects of Romansh.[2]
History
The valley takes its name from the Bergalei Alpine tribe that inhabited it, a name otherwise lost except for a mention on a Roman plate.[3]
References
- ↑ Elsbeth Brun-Enderlin, July/August 2002, Seit 450 Jahren ist das Bergell protestantisch: Grosse Entscheidung der armen Leute. Bündner Kirchenbote, no. 7. Retrieved 2008-10-22. (in German)
- ↑ Bergell in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2005-11-15.
- ↑ The Municipalities of the Roman Empire By James S. Reid page 166