Soglio 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 Maloja in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of the

Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...

close to the border with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia.

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 (; , ) 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 mentioned in 1292 as ''An ...

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 (; , ; ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( Romansh and ). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja in the canton of the Grisons, the lower part within ...

(''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 Piz Cengalo ( ʃ´ɛŋɡalɔ (3,369 m) is a mountain in the Bregaglia range of the Alps on the border between the Swiss canton of Graubünden and Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern a ...

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 B ...

in the

Bregaglia Range The Bregaglia Range (commonly the Bregaglia) is a small group of mostly granite mountains in Graubünden, Switzerland and the Province of Sondrio, northern Italy. It derives its name from the partly Swiss, partly Italian valley, the ''Val Brega ...

. The town is from the Italian town of

Chiavenna Chiavenna (; ; ; or ; archaic or ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine Valchiavenna region. The historic town is a member of the Cittaslow movement. Geo ...

at the foot of the Val Bregaglia, and from Sankt Moritz in the Engadine valley 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 ...

. 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, Soglio,

Stampa Stampa is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Maloja (district), Maloja district of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton, Graubünden. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia. History Stampa is fir ...

, and Vicosoprano were merged into a new municipality of Bregaglia.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 Soglio Village Church

In 1552 the village converted during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Most of the population of the village are still members of the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. 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 (; 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 ...

''). 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 ...

, 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 family, one of the oligarch families of the

, 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 (4 Geo. 2. c. ''5' ...

. 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, to command and defend strategic points ...

of the De Salis 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 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 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 Villages in Bregaglia Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Populated places disestablished in 2010