This is Soglio
Soglio is known for its Baroque palaces and the chestnut forests below the village. It lies in the Bregaglia Valley in southern Graubünden, a valley that extends into Italy.
Discover Soglio
Soglio’s stone houses stand close together, their roofs covered with grey stone slabs. Narrow cobbled lanes lead between them to the palaces of the noble von Salis family, which shaped the village for centuries. In summer, you can dine among roses and tall trees in the historic garden of Hotel Palazzo Salis. Old gravestones belonging to the family are preserved in the Church of San Lorenzo on the edge of the village.
Giovanni Segantini and the mountain light
The painter Giovanni Segantini (1858–1899) sought the light of the mountains and moved to ever higher elevations in search of it. He spent his winters in lower-lying Soglio, which he called the threshold of paradise. In the meadow of Plan Luder, east of the village, you can stand where he painted his work “Becoming”. His technique involved fine strokes of pure colour that blend when viewed from a distance. At the Segantini Museum in St. Moritz, you can see the paintings with which he redefined Alpine art.
Hiking through the chestnut forest
Chestnut trees, some several hundred years old, grow on the slopes below Soglio. A hiking trail leads downhill through the trees to the border village of Castasegna. Chestnuts were a staple food in the Bregaglia Valley for centuries. To preserve them, they are still smoked for weeks in small stone huts known as cascine. At the Festival della Castagna in autumn, you can taste dishes made with chestnuts.
Around Soglio
A high-altitude trail connects Casaccia in the upper Bregaglia Valley with Soglio. You hike along the sunny side of the valley, through woodland and across granite slabs. On the opposite side, mountains rising above 3,000 metres separate the Bregaglia Valley from Italy. In summer, you can stop for coffee and cake at the mountain inn in Durbegia. The hike takes around five hours.
Experience Soglio for less
Book at least two nights at a participating hotel in the Bregaglia Valley and you’ll receive the
Bregaglia Mobil Card. It includes free travel on PostBus services from Maloja to Chiavenna and from Promontogno to Soglio.
