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Canton Graubünden never disappoints and we had the opportunity to visit another special corner of it, Calanca Valley with its exuberant nature.
Rossa, a beautiful quiet town 1089 meters above sea level, turned tourist attraction because of these chapels. People in this part of Canton Graubünden speak the Italian language because its proximity to Canton Ticino.
On a beautiful autumn weekend, we took a short and easy hike to visit three historic chapels in the region. The chapels have become the talk of town Rossa and region after getting a special wall paint. This project was conceived by Anglo-Swiss artist David Tremlett and brought color and attracted tourists to the quiet town.
How to get there
Driving is quite easy and the road quite is beautiful, just put it in GPS Rossa.
There were a few parking spaces but we didn’t see them as we drove into town, so we parked right in front of the first church on the river side.
For those going by public transport, you can get there by Post Auto from Grono but be prepared to transfer several times if coming from Zurich metro. Check the best connection there.
The trail
This new path combines the region’s traditional architecture, the natural beauty of the Calanca park, and modern art, all in one easy walk.
Arriving in Rossa, you immediately spot the chapel, unless you’re the driver of course because you’re trying to find the best parking spot. San Carlo al Sabbione, the chapel in town, is located on Sabbion street and, which is where we parked our car. We cross the bridge to head uphill to the other chapels.
The street splits in two. The one to the right continues along the river, crosses the river and goes further up the valley; you can also use it to get back to the town (a short 20-minute walk). The other street to the left leads to the churches. The street turns into a dirt road which turns into a grass path among stone walls and becomes steep enough that we thought about returning to the town. The path allows for good view of the chapel Maddalena al Calvario, which helps with the motivation. We came up to another split in the path, go right to Maddalena al Calvario or left to Madonna del Sangue. Either way is fine as the path takes you by both chapels. We made a right turn (less steep way up) and headed up to the third chapel. We had our picnic there, on the grass just behind the chapel, enjoying the view of the town, and my boys killing time by making a zombie movie.
While the boys were enjoying the place, playing and having fun, I trekked a little more up the trail, until a settlement in the direction of Pro Leura (altitude 1416m), but I ended up going back, because the path was very steep.
Once the movie was complete and the food ran out, we returned to Rossa and walked around the small town of population 128 which was lined up by hundreds of paintings with an environmental motif.
I’d be interested to hear what you think? Do you like the combination of the town’s traditional architecture and modern art?
If you like it, PIN IT!
