Poschiavo

Poschiavo
Country Switzerland
Canton Graubünden
District Bernina
Population 3,506 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 18 /km2 (47 /sq mi)
Area  191.01 km2 (73.75 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 1,014 m (3,327 ft)
Postal code 7742
SFOS number 3561
Mayor Tino Zanetti
Localities Angeli Custodi, Annunziata, Cantone, Cologna, Miralago, Le Prese, Pagnoncini, Prada, Sant'Antonio, San Carlo
Surrounded by Brusio, Chiuro (IT-SO), Grosio (IT-SO), Grosotto (IT-SO), Lanzada (IT-SO), Livigno (IT-SO), Pontresina, Valdidentro (IT-SO)
Website www.poschiavo.ch
SFSO statistics
Poschiavo

Poschiavo (Italian: Poschiavo, Lombard: pusciaaf, German: Puschlav, Romansh: Puschlav) is a municipality in the district of Bernina in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

Contents

History

Poschiavo is first mentioned in 824 as in Postclave though this comes from a later copy of the original document.. In 1140 it was mentioned as de Pusclauio. It was formerly known by the German name of Puschlav.[3]

Geography

Poschiavo has an area, as of 2006, of 191 km2 (74 sq mi). Of this area, 19.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (46.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[4]

The municipality is located in the Poschiavo sub-district of the Bernina district. It is located in the Val Poschiavo, one of the four valleys of the Italian Graubünden, where the official language is Italian. The other valleys are Val Bregaglia, Mesolcina and Calanca. It consists of the village of Poschiavo and numerous hamlets.

Poschiavo has its own lake, called Lago di Poschiavo, which is located to the south of the village.

Transportation

Poschiavo's only connection to Engadin is the Bernina Pass. The town is connected by a road and a Rhätische Bahn (RhB) station on the Bernina Railway between St. Moritz and Tirano.

Demographics

Poschiavo has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 3,506.[1] As of 2008, 8.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -3.6%.[4]

As of 2000, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.[5] The age distribution, as of 2000, in Poschiavo is; 332 people or 10.3% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 222 people or 6.9% are 10 to 14, and 122 people or 3.8% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 300 people or 9.3% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 433 people or 13.4% are 30 to 39, 413 people or 12.8% are 40 to 49, and 422 people or 13.1% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 389 people or 12.1% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 362 people or 11.2% are 70 to 79, there are 197 people or 6.1% who are 80 to 89, and there are 33 people or 1.0% who are 90 to 99.[6]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 32.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (27%), the SPS (26.8%) and the FDP (12.6%).[4]

In Poschiavo about 69.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[4]

Poschiavo has an unemployment rate of 1.21%. As of 2005, there were 252 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 90 businesses involved in this sector. 456 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 60 businesses in this sector. 1,073 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 164 businesses in this sector.[4]

From the 2000 census, 2,774 or 86.0% are Roman Catholic, while 283 or 8.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 9 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith,, and there are 14 individuals (or about 0.43% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 2 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 36 (or about 1.12% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 107 individuals (or about 3.32% of the population) did not answer the question.[6]

The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

Year Inhabitants
1850 2888
1860 2742
1870 2890
1900 3102
1910 3676
1950 4034
1980 3294
2000 3225
2005 3487

Languages

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks Italian as native language (90.4%), with German being second most common (7.9%) and French being third (0.7%).[4] apart from italian , lombard is also spoken.

Languages in Poschiavo
Languages Census 1980 Census 1990 Census 2000
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
German 208 6.31 % 255 8.02 % 255 7.91 %
Romansh 24 0.73 % 22 0.69 % 14 0.43 %
Italian 3028 91.92 % 2858 89.93 % 2917 90.45 %
Population 3294 100 % 3178 100 % 3225 100 %

Notable residents

The famous pediatrician Guido Fanconi was born in Poschiavo.

Heritage sites of national significance

There are ten buildings in Poschiavo that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. Three churches and a chapel are listed; S. Maria Assunta, S. Vittore, S. Carlo Borromeo and Vecchio Monastero con cappella monastica di S. Maria Presentata. There are three houses that are on the list; Casa Tomé, Devon House, and Li Curt House. Finally, there are three buildings now used as museums; Mulino di Aino, Palazzo De Bassus Mengotti, Palazzo Dorizzi.[7]

Casa Tomé is now the Poschiavo town museum. It is an excellent example of the traditional architecture of the Val Poschiavo. During the middle ages it was built as a tower house. By 1450 it had reached its current exterior appearance. While it was built in the village center, it had a structure that more closely matched nearby farm houses. Today it houses a museum and houses classes and discussions on traditional farming and food production techniques.[8]

The Mulino di Aino presents several pre-industrial trades. This working museum shows how flour was produced from grain, boards from timber and horseshoes from iron. The baroque Palazzo De Bassus-Mengotti was built in 1655 and expanded over the following centuries. Today it houses a museum. The ground floor houses a collection of farm implements. The first floor is used for temporary exhibits, currently (2009) it houses a collection of paintings by the local artist Fernando Lardelli. The second floor contains exhibits showing everyday life in the valley and emigration from the valley.[8] The Palazzo Dorizzi houses pieces collected by Christen and Dorizzi (from Basel and Puschlav respectively) in India during 1947-57.[9]

Weather

Poschiavo has an average of 99.3 days of rain per year and on average receives 1,008 mm (39.7 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is May during which time Poschiavo receives an average of 114 mm (4.5 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 41 mm (1.6 in) of precipitation over 11.7 days.[10]

Climate data for Poschiavo/Robbia
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 2.9
(37.2)
3.9
(39.0)
6.9
(44.4)
10.8
(51.4)
14.9
(58.8)
18.7
(65.7)
21.3
(70.3)
20.4
(68.7)
17.3
(63.1)
12.8
(55.0)
7.1
(44.8)
4.1
(39.4)
11.8
(53.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.3
(27.9)
−1.1
(30.0)
2.2
(36.0)
6.1
(43.0)
9.8
(49.6)
13.1
(55.6)
15.4
(59.7)
14.6
(58.3)
11.5
(52.7)
7.2
(45.0)
2.1
(35.8)
−1
(30)
6.5
(43.7)
Average low °C (°F) −7.5
(18.5)
−6.5
(20.3)
−3.1
(26.4)
0.7
(33.3)
4.1
(39.4)
6.8
(44.2)
8.9
(48.0)
8.5
(47.3)
6.2
(43.2)
2.2
(36.0)
−2.4
(27.7)
−6
(21)
1
(34)
Precipitation mm (inches) 59
(2.32)
41
(1.61)
58
(2.28)
81
(3.19)
114
(4.49)
101
(3.98)
105
(4.13)
106
(4.17)
94
(3.7)
93
(3.66)
100
(3.94)
57
(2.24)
1,008
(39.69)
Avg. precipitation days 5.8 6 6.8 8.7 11.7 10.9 10.2 10.5 7.8 7.4 7.6 5.9 99.3
Source: MeteoSchweiz [10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter (German) accessed 10 December 2011
  2. ^ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  3. ^ a b Poschiavo in Romansh, German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 02-Oct-2009
  5. ^ Graubunden in Numbers (German) accessed 21 September 2009
  6. ^ a b Graubunden Population Statistics (German) accessed 21 September 2009
  7. ^ Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance 21.11.2008 version, (German) accessed 02-Oct-2009
  8. ^ a b Val Poschiavo tourism, history and tradition (German) accessed 2 October 2009
  9. ^ Val Poschiavo tourism, art (German) accessed 2 October 2009
  10. ^ a b "Temperature and Precipitation Average Values-Table, 1961-1990" (in German, French, Italian). Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology - MeteoSwiss. http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/de/klima/klima_schweiz/tabellen.html. Retrieved 8 May 2009. , the weather station elevation is 1078 meters above sea level.
This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

External links