Le Prese is a village in the

Val Poschiavo Val Poschiavo ( lmo, Pus'ciaf, german: Puschlav, ) is a valley in the southern, Italian-speaking part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grisons). The main town is Poschiavo. Geography Val Poschiavo can be reached from the Upper Engadin valley i ...

in the canton of Graubünden,

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 ...

. It lies at above sea level at the northern end of

Lago di Poschiavo Lago di Poschiavo is a natural lake in the Val di Poschiavo in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Geography It has an elevation is , a length of , a surface area of and a maximum depth of . The lake is both fed and drained by the Poschiavino rive ...

, and is in the

municipality of Poschiavo Poschiavo ( it, Poschiavo, lmo, Pusciaaf, german: Puschlav, rm, Puschlav) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bernina Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons in Switzerland. History Poschiavo is first mentio ...

, some south of the village of the same name. The

Poschiavino river Poschiavino is an long river that rises in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and flows into the Italian province of Sondrio. The majority of the river is in Switzerland, with just in Italy. The source of the river lies at above sea level in the ...

enters the lake by the village. Both the main road through the Val Poschiavo and the Bernina railway pass through the village, with the railway sharing the carriageway with road traffic in places, and running alongside the road in others.

Le Prese railway station Le Prese railway station is a railway station in the village of Le Prese, within the municipality of Poschiavo and canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is located on the Bernina line of the Rhaetian Railway. The station is located in the road ...

is situated in the centre of the village, on the shared carriageway section of the line. In the middle of the 19th century, Le Prese was developed as a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

, with the 1856 construction of the spa building and further improvements in 1861. It sold itself as the ideal acclimatization station between the north of

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 re ...

and the health resorts of 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 sulphur spa was well frequented until 1914. The spa (''Albergo Bagni Le Prese''/''Kurhaus Le Prese'') is on the

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

. The parish church of ''San Francesco d'Assisi'' is in the centre of the village.

References

Poschiavo {{Graubünden-geo-stub