Valtellina or theValtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English:Val Telline;Romansh:Vuclina(listenⓘ);Lombard:Valtelina orValtulina; German:Veltlin;Italian:Valtellina) is a valley in theLombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for itsski centre,hot spring spas,bresaola, cheeses (in particular Bitto, named after the river Bitto) and wines. It was a keyAlpine pass between northern Italy and Germany. The control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during theThirty Years' War as it was an important part of theSpanish Road.
The most importantcomune of the valley isSondrio; the others major centres areAprica,Morbegno,Tirano,Bormio andLivigno. Although Livigno is on the northern side of the alpinewatershed, it is considered part of Valtellina as it falls within theprovince of Sondrio.
The region was conquered in 16 BC by theRomans. By the 5th century, it wasChristianized with around tenpieve (rural churches with abaptistery) under theDiocese of Como. TheLombards gained control over the area after 720, but about fifty years laterCharlemagne gave the valley toSaint Denis Monastery near Paris. Later the valley returned to the Bishop of Como.[1]
During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Valtellina belonged to theThree Leagues (the "Grey Leagues"), which was then a mutual-defence region independent of Switzerland but is now the easternmostSwiss Canton ofGraubünden. Graubünden is an area in which German,Romansh,Lombard and Italian are all spoken, and hence during 16th-century rule by Graubünden, the region became known variously asVeltlin,Westtirol (WestTyrol), and theWelsche Vogteien ("Romanic Bailiwicks").
During theThirty Years' War, the Valtellina was a theatre of intense military and diplomatic struggle among France, theHabsburg powers and the local authorities which culminated in the Valtellina war of 1620–1626. Control over the routes through the Valtellina to the passes between Lombardy and the Danube watershed was at stake as it formed part of the so-calledSpanish Road. The anti-Habsburg forces in theThree Leagues put together a court named 'clerical overseers' that between 1618 and 1620 handed down a number of convictions (oftenin absentia) against Catholics in the Leagues and Valtellina.[2] This included the arresting under false pretences and torturing to death of the (catholic) arch-priestNicolò Rusca ofSondrio. This and similar harsh judgments of the anti-HabsburgThusis court led to a conspiracy to drive the Protestants out of the valley. The leader of the conspiracy, Giacomo Robustelli of the Planta family, had ties to Madrid, Rome and Paris. On the evening of 18/19 July 1620, a force of Valtellina rebels supported by Austrian and Italian troops marched intoTirano and began killing Protestants. When they finished in Tirano, they marched toTeglio,Sondrio and further down the valley killing every Protestant that they found. Between 500[3] and 600[4] people were killed on that night and in the following four days. The attack drove nearly all the Protestants out of the valley, prevented further Protestant incursions and took the Valtellina out of theThree Leagues. The killings in Valtellina were part of the conflicts in Graubünden known as theBündner Wirren or Confusion of the Leagues.
In February 1623 France, Savoy, andVenice signed theTreaty of Paris in which all three signatories agreed to re-establish the territory of Valtellina by attempting to remove Spanish forces stationed there.
In 1797 the growing power of theFirst French Republic created theCisalpine Republic in Northern Italy. On 10 October 1797, the French supported a revolt in the Valtellina against theGraubünden (Grisons in French and English), and it joined the Cisalpine Republic.
After theCongress of Vienna in 1815, the Valtellina became part of theKingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, which was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire. In 1859 it came, together with Lombardy, to theKingdom of Sardinia, and finally in 1861 it became part of theKingdom of Italy.
At the end of the 19th century, there was substantial migration out of the Valtellina for reasons of the prevailing economically depressed conditions of the region and for young men to avoidconscription.[5] Australia, especiallyWestern Australia, was a popular destination for such migrants.[5]
Industrially, the area is famous as the home of the world's first mainlineelectrified railway. The electrification of theFerrovia della Valtellina took place in 1902, usingthree-phase power at 3,600 V, with a maximum speed of 70 km/h. The system was designed by the brilliant Hungarian engineerKálmán Kandó who was employed by the main contractors theBudapest-basedGanz company.
During the last months ofWorld War II, the Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini and other diehardfascist leaders of theItalian Social Republic (RSI) proposed making a "last stand" against the advancing Allied armies in the Valtellina. The Fascist Party secretaryAlessandro Pavolini was the main proponent of the idea, which he first raised with Mussolini in September 1944.[6] However, the fascist leadership was divided over the plan and only minimal preparatory work was carried out to establish the area as a stronghold. By the time the Allies made their final advance in April 1945, the Valtellina was not ready to be used as aredoubt.[7][8] In any event, Mussolini's capture on 27 April by the partisans atDongo, barely short of the Valtellina, ended any possibility of a fascist last stand.[9]
The official language is Italian, but theValtellinese variety of theLombard Language is also spoken.
On 31 January there was the tradition ofl'è foeu el sginer ("January's out"), a custom very similar to that celebrated on 2 February known asl'è foeu l'ors de la tana ("the bear is out from its den"). Both celebrated the end of winter and the imminent arrival of spring. The two customs involved walking around the town and inviting people to leave their houses under any pretext, like throwing a large piece of wood or a pot down the stairs. When people ran outside to check what had happened, they were greeted with the shoutl'è foeu el sginer! orl'è foeu l'ors de la tana![10]
Intraverser l'èn orintraverser l'ann (literally "to put the year across") also celebrated New Year's Eve: during the night young people used to buildbarricades of gates,doors, benches, agricultural tools, logs, stairs, sledges, and carts in the mainsquare or in front of the church, to prevent the old year from leaving. The next morning, the owners of the stolen objects had to go and recover them, dismantling the barricade and metaphorically opening up the way to the new year.[11]
On 6 January, the custom of thegabinat is still celebrated today, especially inTirano, in the Upper Valley, and in the nearbyPoschiavo Valley (Switzerland). Traditionally, children would suddenly enter other people's homes shoutinggabinat! and in exchange, they would receive a handful of cooked chestnuts, some sweets or dried fruit. The adults competed to precede the other in exclaiminggabinat when they met. Whoever lost had to pay a pledge; often, the prize at stake was established in advance and the gabinat thus became the object of bets. To win, various strategies were adopted: stalking, disguises, fake illnesses ... Nowadays, it is only the children who do thegabinat, and they usually show up to relatives, friends, and local shopkeepers.
The custom of thegabinat most likely comes fromBavaria, Germany, where Christmas, New Year's Eve andEpiphany were indicated with the name Geb-nacht (Gaben means "gifts" andNacht means "night", therefore "night of gifts"): on the eve of these holidays, the poor young people sang in front of the doors of the wealthiest in the hope to receive a gift.[12]
On the first of March, throughout Valtellina andValchiavenna, people used to go tociamà l'erba ("call the grass"). The children walked in the meadows making noise withcowbells to call the grass and awaken it from its winter slumber.[13] This custom also served to propitiate a bountiful harvest.[14]
In the village ofGrosio, theCarnival is celebrated, unlike the rest of Valtellina, on the first Sunday ofLent, according to theAmbrosian calendar in force before theGregorian Reform. For this reason, it is calledCarneval vegg ("Old Carnival").
In the past, it was customary for people to gather all together to dance, sing, eat and drink. Being an agricultural ritual that represents the death of winter and the beginning of summer, Carnival officially began on January 17 with the parade of the blessed cattle adorned with coloured ribbons. It included numerousbonfires, with which the paths were cleared to facilitate the passage of farmers, their agricultural vehicles and their livestock. A straw puppet with horns on his head representing the Carnival was also burnt.[12]
Nowadays, the districts of the towns challenge each other to the sound of allegorical floats, and the parade is attended by traditional masks, eight characters representing traditions, past events, and moments of everyday life: the Old Carnival, a bearded and joyful man dressed as a mountaineer, and Lean Lent, a thin woman dressed in a humble way, with a dark handkerchief on her head and an empty basket on her arm, represent the transition from the glories of Carnival to Lenten fasts. They are accompanied by the Paralytic, the Bear Handler, a funny shepherd who dances and rolls on the ground named Toni, an old man with a butt covered with Nutella, a hunchbacked mountaineer whose hump is filled with chestnut urchins, and Bernarda, a man disguised as a baby put in a pannier supported by a fake old woman, and accompanied by another man dressed as a farmer).[15]
During the Carnival period,manzòli ormanzòla, white flour andbuckwheatpancakes mixed with slices of cheese and cut into the shape of acalf were eaten to propitiate the abundance of livestock parts.[12]
InBormio, during the day of the Carnival of the Fools, the Mayor hands over his power to thePodestà di Mat (Podestà of the Fools) toHarlequin, and to theCompagnia di Mat ("the Company of the Fools") who give a public reading of the gossip and complaints that citizens have deposited in a box placed in the square of the Kuerc. The festival also includes a parade along the streets of the historic centre led by the Harlequins of the Company of Mat, with children escorting the Podestà.[16]
Theconscription was originally a celebration on the occasion of the call to the draft: the tradition seems to have originated in the second half of the nineteenth century with theunification of Italy when young men were forced to serve a period in the Army. The feast of the conscripts of eighteen-year-olds was therefore a kind ofrite of passage to adulthood. Today is simply the celebration of thecoming of age.
The duration of the celebration varied from town to town: in Grosio the conscription could last up to ten days, during which the boys and girls met in bars, taverns, or in places specially set up for the purpose. The conscripts had the task of embroidering on thetricolour flag the symbol and possibly the motto that the group had chosen. On the walls of the villages, it was customary to writeW LA CLASSE... ("cheers to the year...") followed by the year of birth: nowadays, conscripts hang a tricolour banner with the same wording and the names (or nicknames) of the members of the group.[17][18]
The feast of the conscripts is particularly felt in Alta Valtellina: in Grosio, for a week, the conscripts meet in a club to celebrate and travel through the streets of the town in a car from which the flag decorated with the symbol of the group waves. On New Year's Eve, amidfireworks and the noise of whistles,cowbells, motorcycles, andtractors, they entrust the flag to conscripts one year younger, after having it blessed in church.[19] Each group chooses different coloured sweatshirts and decorates the tricolour with asymbol that represents the group's motto or identity.[20]
ThePasquali are allegorical floats with a religious theme, prepared during the winter by the various districts of Bormio (Buglio, Combo, Dossiglio, Dossorovina and Maggiore) for Easter (Pasqua meaning Easter in Italian). On Easter day, the Pasquali are carried on the shoulders of the boys and are accompanied by a band, folk groups, women, seniors, and children who embellish the parade with flowers and other small crafts. Everyone wears the traditional red, black and white costume. After having followed the entire Via Roma and upon arrival at the Piazza del Kuerc (the main square of the town) the ancient bell called Bajona starts tolling and a jury draws up a ranking of the best Pasquali. At the end of the parade, the floats are exhibited in Piazza del Kuerc where they stay until Easter Monday.[21]
Started in 1963, thePalio delle Contrade sees the inhabitants of the five districts of Bormio compete against each other, divided according to age, in downhill, cross-country, combined, and relay races. The cross-country race takes place through the streets of the town, covered with snow for the purpose.[22]
In Valtellina, wines are produced mainly fromChiavennasca (the local name ofNebbiologrape variety) with other minor varieties such asRossola nera permitted up to 20% for theDenominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and 10% for theDenominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). Grapes are limited to aharvestyield of 12 tonnes per hectare. The finished wine must beaged for at least two years prior to release (three years if aRiserva bottling) with a minimumalcohol level of at least 11%. Yields for the DOCG wines are further restricted to a maximum of 8 tonnes/ha. While the ageing requirements are the same as the DOC, the minimum alcohol level for the DOCG wine is 12%.[23]
The best-known villages for red wines are:Grumello,Sassella,Inferno,Valgella, andMaroggia. The village names are normally indicated on the label. Additionally, there is anAmarone style DOCG wine calledSforzato (Sfursat).
In the lower part of theVal Poschiavo, the valley in the Graubünden canton of Switzerland that descends into the Valtellina atTirano, similar wines are produced – but under different regulations such asappellation and the allowance of sugar addition, orchaptalization.
One of the most notable tourist attractions of the area is theBernina Line ("Trenino Rosso", little red train) of theRhaetian Railway, which links the town ofTirano in the Valtellina withSt. Moritz in Graubünden, Switzerland via theBernina Pass. The mountains of the Valtellina offer numerous possibilities for sports activities: skiing and winter sports inBormio,Aprica orLivigno, hiking and biking in the same locations and especially in the secondary valleys, and rock climbing in theVal Masino.
The Rupe Magna, a unique large rock with more than 5,000 engraved figures dating from between the 4th and 1st millennia BCE, can be found at theRock Engraving Park inGrosio.
Born in Valtellina:
Further reading: F Pieth: Bündnergeschichte, 1982,ISBN 3-85894-002-X
