The Via Panoramica Val Bregaglia. This old track runs high up along the northern side of the valley, ending in Soglio. This is an intermediate mountain hike and a good level of fitness is required. See the Swiss Mobility link above for all the details.

The Painter – Giovanni Segantini

The Italian born painter Giovanni Segantini lived here for a few years. He called Soglio “La soglia del paradiso” (The Threshold to Paradise).

Giovanni Segantini’s life could be turned into a movie. He was born to a street vendor in a small town in Austria (now, northern Italy). Sadly, his mother died when he was 7 and he was forced to move to Milan and live with his half-sister. He ended up in a reformatory after running away and living on the streets. A chaplain at the reformatory discovered his talent which led to him attending the Brera Academy in Milan. The city life and ideals of other artists were not to his taste so he rejected Milan’s art scene. His passion was to paint the daily lives of the farm and village pheasants living in Alpine landscapes. He was also fascinated by the relationships between the shepherds, shepherdesses, and their animals. By the time he settled in the Engadin Valley, he was a very successful painter. (A definite story arc for a movie in my opinion.) Unfortunately, this story has a very sad ending – in 1899 he died unexpectedly at the age of 41 of peritonitis.

The Segantini Museum in St. Moritz houses the most complete collection of Giovanni Segantini’s works.

The Senda Segantini hike follows in Giovanni’s footsteps through the remote Septimer Pass, taking you from Bivio to the edge of the Bregaglia Valley. Further information can be found on the Swiss Mobility website. If you want remote – this is the place to come…