Mesocco ( Lombard: ''Mesòch'') is a

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

in the

Moesa Region The Moesa Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the Canton of the Grisons (or in German: Graubünden) in Switzerland. It had an area of and a population of (as of ).. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganizati ...

in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Graubünden.

History

The first human settlement in the area dates back to the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

era. Stone tools dating to about 6000 BC have been found in the Silex section of the municipality. At the same site,

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

fire pits and ceramics (5000 BC) were also discovered. The first permanent settlements in the area date to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(about 1400-1200 BC) and the pre-

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. A notable

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

from the early Iron Age (600-500 BC) and traces of a Roman settlement were discovered on Gorda hill near the village. Additionally, an

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

grave (6th century AD) was also discovered on the same hill. The castle was built in the 12th century and is first mentioned in 1219. The village of Mesocco is first mentioned in 1203 as ''Mesoco''. In 1383 it was mentioned as ''Misogg''. In 1480 Mesocco and

Soazza Soazza is a municipality in the Moesa Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Soazza is first mentioned in 1203 as ''Soaza''. Geography Soazza has an area, , of . Of this area, 7.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 53.7 ...

willingly joined the

Gray League The Grey League (german: Grauer Bund, it, Lega Grigia, rm, Ligia Grischa or ), sometimes called ''Oberbund'', formed in 1395 in the ''Vorderrhein'' and ''Hinterrhein (district), Hinterrhein'' valleys, Raetia. The name Grey League is derived fr ...

. Between 1907 and 1978, Mesocco was linked to

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

and the

Gotthard railway The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between no ...

by the

Bellinzona–Mesocco railway The Bellinzona–Mesocco railway ( it, Ferrovia Bellinzona–Mesocco; BM) was a Swiss metre gauge railway that linked the towns of Bellinzona, in the canton of Ticino and Mesocco, in the canton of Graubünden. The line was built by the ''Società ...

Geography

Picswiss GR-81-24 Dorfstrasse in Mesocco

Mesocco has an area, , of . Of this area, 20.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (58.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Moesa sub-district of the Mesocco district, after 2017 it was part of the Moesa Region. It is the northernmost municipality in the

Misox The ''Valle Mesolcina'', also known as the ''Val Mesolcina'' or ''Misox'' (German), is an alpine valley of the Grisons, Switzerland, stretching from the San Bernardino Pass to Grono where it joins the Calanca Valley. It is the valley formed by ...

valley and is one of the largest in the canton. It contains the

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

for the area, the local district courts and numerous government offices. It consists of the village of Mesocco with eleven sections, including the mountain village of San Bernardino.

Demographics

Mesocco has a population (as of ) of . , 13.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -1.1%. Most of the population () speaks Italian (89.1%), with German being second most common (6.2%) and Albanian being third (1.4%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 22 October 2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 50.4% male and 49.6% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Mesocco is; 112 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 62 teenagers or 5.2% are 10 to 14, and 41 teenagers or 3.4% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 134 people or 11.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 189 people or 15.7% are 30 to 39, 163 people or 13.6% are 40 to 49, and 150 people or 12.5% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 157 people or 13.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 129 people or 10.7% are 70 to 79, there are 50 people or 4.2% who are 80 to 89, and there are 14 people or 1.2% who are 90 to 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

the most popular party was the SP which received 37.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (34.1%), the CVP (20.5%) and the FDP (8.2%). In Mesocco about 70.3% 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 ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Mesocco has an unemployment rate of 4.26%. , there were 52 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 138 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 construction. ...

and there are 19 businesses in this sector. 263 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 second ...

, with 56 businesses in this sector. From the , 1,093 or 91.0% are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, while 37 or 3.1% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 5 individuals (or about 0.42% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church. There are 23 (or about 1.92% of the population) who are

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic. 31 (or about 2.58% of the population) belong to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 12 individuals (or about 1.00% of the population) did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table:

Climate

Between 1991 and 2020 Mesocco had an average of 123.9 days of rain per year and on average received of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month was August during which time Mesocco received an average of of precipitation. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 12.7 days. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 6.5 days.

Sights

Heritage sites of national significance

The '' Castello di Mesocco'' and the ''Church of S. Maria al Castello'' are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 22 October 2009 The Castello ruins are among the largest in the canton. Originally the seat of the noble family von Sax, from the 12th century until 1480 it was held by the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

. From 1480 until 1549 it was held by the Trivulzio family. At the foot of the castle is the Church of Santa Maria al Castello. The church was first mentioned in 1219. It houses several

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es from the workshop of Seregnesi from the mid-15th century. File:Mesocco castle 2.jpg, Aerial view of the castle File:Mesocco castle plan.jpg, Castle plan File:Mesocco castle 1.jpg, Castle walls File:Mesocco castle 4.JPG, Main tower and bell tower File:Picswiss GR-81-12 Blick vom Castello nach Mesocco.jpg, View from the castle toward Mesocco and the Church of S. Maria File:Picswiss GR-81-13 Chiesa Santa Maria del Castello in Mesocco.jpg, S. Maria al Castello File:March fresco.jpg, Fresco from the church, representing the month of March File:Picswiss GR-81-15 Mesocco- Chiesa Santa Maria del Castello (Fresko St Christopheru.jpg, Fresco of St. Christopher

Churches

Picswiss GR-81-27 Chiesa SS Pietro e Paolo

Picswiss GR-81-20 Mesocco- Chiesa San Rocco

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of SS. Pietro e Paolo was first mentioned in 1219. In the 17th century it was renovated and in 1959 it was restored. The church of S. Rocco was built with an attached

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

, which since 1668 has been staffed by the Capuchin friars. The church grounds include a number of chapels, among then, the chapel of S. Giacomo which was first mentioned in 1419. During the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the church of S. Giuseppe in Andergia, was used for Protestant services. The church of S. Giovanni Nepomuceno in Cebbia, was destroyed in 1978 by a flood and had to be rebuilt.

Other buildings

The House a Marca was built in 1565 and later expanded. In addition to this old house, there are a number of patrician houses from the 19th century.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Authority control Municipalities of Graubünden Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden