MESOLCINA VALLEY

The Italian-speaking part of Switzerland is famous for its beautiful valleys. Mesolcina with its Italian language and customs is, by an accident of history, in Grisons canton, but it borders and is considered part of Bellinzona in Ticino. Ticino as the southernmost canton of Switzerland borders Italy, and has a sub-tropical climate where the sun shines 300 days a year, giving it the term “Swiss Mediterranean.” Bellinzona is a UNESCO heritage site with its three restored castles, and it has a pedestrians-only city center.

Mesolcina Valley traces back to Roman times and was even inhabited in Prehistoric times. Charlemagne descended the Valley in 774 AD, and Barbarosse met his cousin Henry the Lion in battle here. During Medieval times, the castles at Bellinzona (as well as the Mesocco Castle at Soazza) controlled the most-important transalpine route between Italy and points north.