Celerina/Schlarigna

Celerina/Schlarigna (German/Italian Celerina; Romansh Schlarignaⓘ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

The Cresta Run opened in 1884, the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun in 1904 and the cable car to Saluver in 1958.

In the course of the 20th century, the population structure of the originally Romansh-speaking farming village underwent radical change, with people moving to the thriving resort from the German-speaking part of Switzerland and also from Italy.

Of the rest of the land, 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (31.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

[4] It consists of the haufendorf village (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) of Celerina/Schlarigna and the hamlet of Crasta, in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district, after 2017 it was part of the Maloja Region.

[4] Until the mid 19th Century, the entire population spoke the Upper-Engadin Romansh dialect of Puter.

The church is a single apse construction with a painted wood roof and notable frescoes.

As Celerina/Schlarigna is located at the edge of the plain where the Flaz river (coming from the Bernina Pass) meets the Inn, this is the widest part of the Engadin valley, making Celerina the sunniest spot in the upper Engadin valley.

The core tourism, however, stems from vacation apartments, both owner-occupied second homes and temporary rentals.

Winter sports include both Nordic and alpine skiing, bobsleigh, and skeleton (the famous Cresta Run ends in Celerina).

There is a direct skiers gondola from Celerina into the heart of the St.Moritz ski area of Corviglia/Marguns, a major portion of which lies in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna.

All three are on lines of the Rhaetian Railway and between them have regular service to St. Moritz, Chur, Landquart, and Tirano.

Celerina c. 1870, with the hamlet Cresta on the left. Etching by Heinrich Müller
Engadin valley with Celerina/Schlarigna
Aerial view from 200 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1919)
San Gian church with its ruined bell tower
View of St Moritz and Celerina.