Experience Soglio
september 8-20, 2009
Soglio sits on a sunny South facing promontory three thousand feet above the narrow Bregaglia/Bergell valley and just a few kilometers from the Italian border. The village of about one hundred inhabitants faces out over the stunning Bondesca mountain range with jagged peaks and glaciers rising more than ten thousand feet above the valley floor. Choked off, from the North by the steep Maloja Pass and from the South by the Italian border, the valley has been rather lost in time with villages still much as they were centuries ago. Here you will find signs of pre-Roman habitation; this is the approach to the "Septima Pass," Hannibal's epic route to the north. This quiet valley also has a long standing artistic tradition and, among others, is the home of the Giacometti family of artists.
The landscape of the valley – with sparse Alpine to lush Mediterranean vegetation – is full of contrasts, as are the villages within it. Soglio is the valley gem: an incredible mixture of primitive stone houses and barns, many five hundred years old, clustered along narrow cobbled alleyways and set alongside large 16th to 18th century palaces, built by the Bregallian von Salis mercenary dynasty.
Soglio, at its core, is a simple farming village where the steep fields are still hand cut by sickle and the hay is carried down the mountainsides in handmade baskets on the backs of both the men and women. From the forest below the village, chestnuts are gathered, smoke dried, and laboriously beaten and winnowed to form – for both the people and animals – a staple diet for the winter months. Clothes are still scrubbed by hand in the wash fountains. The smallest of sticks are gathered from the forest to maintain some warmth through the winter months in the thick stone-walled houses. This is not a re-creation of times past ... rather how life has always been here, and continues, today.
Twelve kilometers down the valley, across the Italian border, lies the bustling town of Chiavenna. Born from a Roman encampment, today it is a very pedestrian-friendly shopping, market, and commercial center with wonderful old buildings, alleyways, gardens, and umbrella-filled piazzas. Not to be missed and, definitely, on the agenda!
Our lodging and base of operations will be the hotel La Soglina, offering light, comfortable rooms, meals prepared by the chef-owner, and spectacular vistas. Modern amenities include a solarium and fitness center.
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Instructor
Stella Canfield will be your instructor for the Soglio workshop. For more on StellaClick here -
Itinerary and Notes
To view or print a tentative itinerary and description of the locations we'll vist Click here
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Scenes from Soglio
To view a slideshow of inspiring Soglio scenes by David Vincent-Jones Click here