Madulain

Madulain stretches along the left bank of the Inn, between La Punt-Chamues-ch and Zuoz, about fifteen minutes from St. Moritz. Its dense, irregular built-up area gathers around a central square at the foot of the rock spur that carries the ruins of Guardaval Castle. With 206 residents recorded at the end of 2020, it is the smallest municipality in the Upper Engadine; an exclave, Val Prünella, some ten kilometres to the south, accounts for close to half of its territory.

The place, recorded from 1137-1139 as Madulene, owes its skyline to a castle built in 1251 by Volkard von Neuburg, Bishop of Chur, to administer the bishopric's Upper Engadine estates from the height. The fief passed to the Planta family in 1377, but the fortress, never inhabited, was pledged in 1409 to the League of God's House to settle the bishopric's debts; it then ceased to be an administrative seat and fell into ruin over the course of the 15th century.

A church is recorded at Madulain from 1370; the present late-Gothic building was raised around 1510, before the Reformation was introduced in 1554. The small reformed church is now protected as a historic monument. The municipality, split off from Zuoz in 1543, lines its village core — held to be among the best preserved in the Upper Engadine — up to the station serving the Bever-Scuol-Tarasp line.

Puter, the Upper Engadine dialect of Romansh, remained the language of the whole village until the early 19th century; today it is spoken only by a minority, German having taken over after 1970.

Why this place is remarkable

Few Engadine villages hold together in so little space: a row of houses squeezed between the Inn and the spur that carries the ruins of Guardaval, an episcopal castle built in 1251 and later abandoned after being pledged in 1409. The village core, held to be among the best preserved in the Upper Engadine, reads in a single glance from the central square to the tower of the reformed church raised around 1510.

History and origin

Guardaval Castle was built in 1251 by Volkard von Neuburg, Bishop of Chur, on the spur above the village, to administer the bishopric's Upper Engadine estates. In 1377 it became a fief of the Planta family, but was never inhabited: pledged in 1409 to the League of God's House to settle episcopal debts, it lost its administrative role and fell into ruin from the 15th century on. A church is attested at Madulain in 1370; the late-Gothic building seen today dates from around 1510, the Reformation was introduced in 1554, and the municipality split off from Zuoz in 1543 to become an independent 'Nachbarschaft'.