Castasegna

Castasegna sits on the right bank of the Maira, at the confluence of the Lovero stream and the Val Casnaggina torrent, 9.7 kilometres east of Chiavenna and on the Italian border, at 690 metres — the lowest village in the Graubünden part of the Bregaglia valley. First recorded in 1374 as Castexegnia, it was an independent commune of 6.8 square kilometres until it merged, on 1 January 2010, with Bondo, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano into the new commune of Bregaglia. Its population stood at 191 in 2008, down 11.8% over the previous decade; the village centre is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national importance.

Villa Garbald dominates the village: built between 1862 and 1864 for the customs official Agostino Garbald and his wife Johanna Garbald-Gredig, it is architect Gottfried Semper's only building south of the Alps. Restored in 2004 by architects Quintus Miller and Paola Maranta, it now stands beside the Roccolo, an award-winning residential tower the same architects built the same year just above it. The school and town hall, for their part, date from 1877-1879 and are the work of Venetian architect Giovanni Sottovia.

The village turned Protestant in the 16th century — sources give either 1522 or 1552 — and gained its own pastor in 1553; the Reformed church of Santissima Trinità dates from 1664, and the chapel of San Gian is recorded as early as 1409. Nearby once stood the Brentan, then the largest chestnut forest in Europe, which gives the village its name and its chestnut-tree coat of arms.

The writer Silvia Andrea (1840-1935) and the photographer Andrea Garbald (1877-1958), born and died in Castasegna, are among the village's notable figures. A power plant run by Zurich's municipal utility (EWZ) operates here, and a bypass road built in 1999 relieved the village of through traffic.

Why this place is remarkable

Castasegna owes its architectural renown to a biographical coincidence: the customs official Agostino Garbald had Gottfried Semper build him, in 1862-1864, the architect's only building south of the Alps — then, in 2004, architects Miller & Maranta added the award-winning Roccolo residential tower just above it. Between the two, the lowest village of the Graubünden Bregaglia has kept its old chestnut forest, the Brentan, which gives it its name and its coat of arms.

History and origin

The village, first recorded in 1374 under the name Castexegnia, turned Protestant in the 16th century — sources give 1522 or 1552 — and gained its own pastor in 1553; the Reformed church of Santissima Trinità dates from 1664, and the chapel of San Gian is documented as early as 1409. An independent commune until the end of 2009, Castasegna merged on 1 January 2010 with Bondo, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano to form the commune of Bregaglia.