Soglio is a village and a former
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 district of
Maloja 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 of the
Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...
close to the border with
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 ...
. It is now part of the municipality of
Bregaglia
Bregaglia (Italian and rm, ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It was formed by the 2010 merger of the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano, all located in the Val ...
.
History
Soglio is first mentioned in 1186 as ''de Solio''.
[
]
Geography
Soglio has an area, , of . Of this area, 25.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (65.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[
The municipality is located in the Bergell sub-district of the Maloja district. It is located on a terrace at the entrance to the ''Passo della Duana'' which leads into the valley of ]Avers
Avers ( rm, Avras; wae, Òòver(s), , ) is a high Alpine valley region and a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It includes Juf, the highest-altitude year-round settlement in Europe.
History
Avers is first ...
and the ''Passo da la Prasignola'' into the ''Val Madris''. It consists of the village of Soglio (at ) and the section of Spino.
Soglio lies on a ledge on the mountainside on the northern side of the Val Bregaglia
The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland).
Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja i ...
(''Bergell'' in German) above the river Maira (''Mera'' in Italian), with views across the valley to the Bondasca glacier and the peaks of the Sciora group, Piz Cengalo and Piz Badile
Piz Badile (3,308 m) is a mountain of the Bregaglia range in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the Italian region of Lombardy. The border between the two countries runs along the summit ridge. Its north-east face, overlooking the Swiss Val Bre ...
in the Bregaglia Range.
The town is from the Italian town of Chiavenna
Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...
at the foot of the Val Bregaglia, and from Sankt Moritz
St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...
in the Engadine valley
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 '' ...
which is reached via the Maloja Pass
Maloja Pass ( Italian: ''Passo del Maloja'', German: ''Malojapass'') (1815m a.s.l.) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden, linking the Engadine with the Val Bregaglia, still in Switzerland and Chiavenna in It ...
. These two towns provide the nearest railway stations. The highest point of the territory of the municipality is the summit of Piz Duan ().
On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna
Castasegna () is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Grisons, on the Italian border. It is currently part of the municipality of Bregaglia. The town is situated in the Bergell valley, above the river Mera.
...
, Soglio, Stampa
Stampa is a former municipality in the Maloja district of the Swiss canton, Graubünden. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia.
History
Stampa is first mentioned after 1354 as ''Stamppa'' and was named so in honor of the Stampa fami ...
, and Vicosoprano
Vicosoprano is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and is the largest village in the Val Bregaglia. It's now part of the municipality of Bregaglia.
History
Vicosoprano is first mentioned in 1096 a ...
were merged into a new municipality of Bregaglia
Bregaglia (Italian and rm, ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It was formed by the 2010 merger of the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano, all located in the Val ...
.[Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009
Demographics
Soglio has a population () of 167, of which 7.8% are foreign nationals.[ Over the last 10 years the population has decreased by 13.5%.]
accessed 19-Oct-2009
, the gender distribution of the population was 43.9% male and 56.1% female.[Graubunden in Numbers]
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Soglio is; 8 children or 4.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 11 teenagers or 6.4% are 10 to 14, and 6 teenagers or 3.5% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 11 people or 6.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 14 people or 8.1% are 30 to 39, 32 people or 18.6% are 40 to 49, and 28 people or 16.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 17 people or 9.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 27 people or 15.7% are 70 to 79, there are 15 people or 8.7% who are 80 to 89, and there are 3 people or 1.7% who are 90 to 99.[Graubunden Population Statistics]
accessed 21 September 2009
In 1552 the village converted 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 ...
. Most of the population of the village are still members of 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 ...
.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 53.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (24.5%), the FDP (15.2%) and the CVP (7.2%).[
In Soglio about 73.6% 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 ...
'').[
Soglio has an unemployment rate of 0.2%. , there were 18 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 34 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 8 businesses in this sector. 140 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 15 businesses in this sector.[
The historical population is given in the following table:][
]
Languages
Most of the population () speaks Italian (80.2%), with German being second most common (17.4%) and English being third ( 1.7%).[ The majority of the population speaks the local dialect of Lombard .
]
Notable residents
Soglio is the commune of origin for the De Salis
De Salis is the surname of an old noble family from Grisons, Switzerland.
People with the surname
They were one of the most influential families of the Three Leagues. At first the family appears in Soglio, Switzerland with ''ser Rodolfus de Sal ...
family, one of the oligarch families of the Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...
, later to become Count de Salis-Soglio
Count de Salis-Soglio is a continental title of nobility that was recognized in the United Kingdom for a Swiss family which became British Subjects when Jerome, 2nd Count de Salis, was naturalized by Private Act of Parliament in 1743.
Emperor F ...
. There are several Salis houses in the village: Casa Alta; Casa Battista; Casa di Mezzo; and Casa Antonio. The Casa Battista is now a hotel – ''Hotel Palazzo Salis'' (formerly ''Pensione Willy'') – while the others are tenements. For centuries the Salis family fortunes influenced the region, and the bars from the family arms are present in the coat of arms of the municipality, below the capricorn, which indicates church membership.
Heritage sites
* The ''Soglio Reformed Church'', first mentioned in 1354.
* ''Cas' Alta'', a medieval tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
of the De Salis
De Salis is the surname of an old noble family from Grisons, Switzerland.
People with the surname
They were one of the most influential families of the Three Leagues. At first the family appears in Soglio, Switzerland with ''ser Rodolfus de Sal ...
family, converted into a residential tower in 1524 and expanded in 1680 by governor Anton von Salis.
* ''Casa Battista, no. 131'', also known as the Hotel Palazzo Salis, built onto an older structure in 1630 for Battista von Salis. (Listed as Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 19-Oct-2009)
* ''Casa Antonio, no. 139'', built 1763–66 for Andreas von Salis. (Listed as heritage site of national significance.)
* ''Casa di Mezzo'', built behind Cas' Alta and Casa Battista for the brothers Rudolf, Friedrich Anton and Andreas von Salis in 1696.
* ''Casa Gubert'', built on the eastern edge of the village in 1554–73 for Captain Dietegen von Salis over an older structure.
File:Hotel Palazzo Salis Exterior.jpg, Exterior of the Hotel Palazzo Salis ''(Casa Battista)''
File:Hotel Palazzo Salis Interior.jpg, Dining room of Hotel Palazzo Salis
File:Casa Antonio and Casa di Mezzo, Soglio, from the back-west, June 2009.jpg, Casa Antonio & Casa di Mezzo, Soglio
Weather
Soglio has an average of 101.8 days of rain per year and on average receives 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 is May during which time Soglio receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 12.7 days.[, the weather station elevation is 1093 meters above sea level.]
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Bregaglia
Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden
Populated places disestablished in 2010