Bregaglia Castelmur Palace and its pastry people

There are places that amaze you with contrasts. Val Bregaglia is one of them. Part Swiss and part Italian, the Bregaglia stretches across the southern slope of the Rhaetian Alps. Descending from the Maloja Pass, it connects the Engadine with Valchiavenna. A state border separates the 10 kilometers of the Italian part from the 30 kilometers of the Swiss part. The entire valley has always been entrusted by history with the task of joining north and south of the Alpine chain. Lake Como is less than an hour's drive from aristocratic Chiavenna, and soon after, heading northeast, the valley begins to lay out the cards of its contrasts. Granite spires, sharp and cutting, conoids of gentle slopes and a canopy of chestnut groves that descends to lap a river, the Maira. A dialectic that brings together verticality and gentle slopes. Contrasts that have fascinated artists and writers who have dipped their inspiration in these places. One among them is the great Alberto Giacometti, who was born in Bregaglia and lived in Paris, the patron deity of this place of borders and art. In the Swiss part of the valley there is a palace that holds so many of these stories of contrasts, of going and coming back, of emigration. It bears the name of a wealthy and noble Bregaglia family, the Castelmur family. To reach it, one only has to cross the border of Castasegna by a few kilome - ters, pass Bondo, Promontogno and, just before arriving in Stampa, the Christmas village of the artistic Giacometti family, one reaches it by climbing to the village of Coltura. Castelmur Palace is itself a contrast. It combines a noble 18th-century house with a 19th-century turreted structure. This architectural union was desired by Jean de Castelmur (1800-1871) in 1848. Having returned to his valley of origin after making his fortune in France, awarded the title of baron by Napoleon III, he wanted to boast with his mansion, power and nobility. Indeed, the palace's interiors open to halls and salons, rococo vaults of painted illusion, stained glass, damask tapestries, trophies and armor everywhere. Castelmur Palace now houses a permanent exhibition on an important aspect of the emigration of the people of the Graubünden valleys, that of the confectioners. A history that links these valleys, first with the Venetian Republic, starting in 1512, and then, after 1766, with the world, where this "pastry people" opened not only pastry shops, but also distilleries, bars, cafes and confectionery enterprises. Castelmur Palace (palace-castelmur.ch/en/) is open from June 1 to Oct. 20, from 2 to 5 p.m. and from July 15 to Aug. 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Mondays). For visiting, Castelmur Palace has an audioguide based on QR codes, which can be used directly from smartphones.