Walk along the old Railway Bed in the Mesolcina Valley

Monday December 2, 2024 -- This was the only other nice day this week with mild temperatures again in the south, so Urs took the day off work so we could do a final excursion for a while.

There aren't many new places in Canton Ticino where we haven't walked yet, but one valley out of Bellinzona, which actually belongs in Canton Graubünden, is one where we still had some valley trail to walk. This valley is called the Mesolcina Valley, and this is where there were some very large and destructive landslides this spring, which had damaged the highway and closed the local roads for several months.

Much has been repaired and the buses run via the San Bernardino Pass again, so we have easy access to the valley. Back in June of 2022 we walked a section of the "Via San Bernardino" trail from the town of the same name, walking a little over 12 kilometers to the town of Mesocco. This time we started in Mesocco where we last ended, and continued down the valley for another 11 kilometers. Each time we have passed through this valley by bus, we passed the mighty Mesocco Castle ruins, which was the main site we wanted to visit this time.

As the mountains are very steep in these valleys, and the sun's trajectory quite low at this time of year, it is difficult to anticipate what is the best time to do valley walks. We got to Mesocco at 10:30, but the sun didn't pass the mountain peaks till an hour later. But otherwise we had lots of sunshine until 3:00 p.m. when we caught the bus back out toward Bellinzona. Most of our easy walk was along the old railway line, a line from Bellinzona to Mesocco which operated between 1907 and 1978 when the upper part was damaged by storm. The rest of the line was discontinued in 2013, and now it serves as a comfortable walking trail.

At 10 a.m. we are headed up the Mesolcina Valley by bus. The sun has just passed the peaks in the East and there is some sunshine here, but our hike starts further back in the valley, and we can only hope....

On the ride up the valley, we get a look at the church on the hill in Soazza, which we checked out later on our walk back down the valley (Unfortunately, the building was locked).

As the bus gets closer to our starting point in the town of Mesocco, the ruins of the huge Mesocco Fortress loom over the valley. From the early 13th Century until 1526, this castle ruled the valley. It is the perfect spot to keep a look-out over the entire valley.

We got to the former Mesocco train station (end of the line for the original railway line from Bellinzona) at 10:20. As the sun hadn't passed the mountain peaks yet, we hung around here for a while, which was a good thing, because Urs had left his phone on the bus. Fortunately for us, this was the end of the line for our bus, and the driver found the phone, and came looking for us. That's him on the photo!

At 10:30 we decided to head out to the first church on the south end of the town, hoping the sun would "rise" by the time we had looked at the church. This is the parish church of St.Peter and St.Paul.

Interesting cemetery, built in levels. The sun is past the mountains now, but the sky is overcast (weather forecast was for cloudless skies between 9 a.m. and noon).

The church was first mentioned in documents of 1219, but received renovations and extensions in the 17th and 18th Centuries, giving it the Baroque style

Details of the ceiling in the choir above the altar.

A view up the San Bernardino Valley across the roofs of the town of Mesocco.

Having a snack and waiting for the sunshine and clearer skies on a bench in front of the parish church in Mesocco.

There is a "Via Crucis" walk from the church down to the main street, and this is where we headed down (finally, at 10:50) to start on our walk down the valley.

Starting at about 10:45 (after reaching Mesocco at 10:20) we walked at a leisurely pace down the valley, mostly along the old railway line, spending quite a bit of time at the old castle ruins. We got to Cabbiolo at 14:50 and figured we'd had enough, even though this was a relatively "short" walk for us. That side of the valley was already in shadow, and a bus was coming shortly, so we ended our walk there. Still, it was about 4 hours out in the sunshine and fresh air. (On the map, the red&white lines show mountain trails which are no longer accessible because of the storm damage from June of this year).

Heading down the "Stations of the Cross" staircase to start our hike along the official "Via San Bernardino" trail near the main road.

Most of our 10-km walk was along a wide trail like this, the site of the original railway line from 1907, finally discontinued and disassembled in 2013.

Most of the damage caused by massive landslides this year (June 21st) were further south than where we walked (around Lostallo), but even here you can see the masses of debris which are brought down the mountains when there is more than normal rain.

First view of the Mesocco Castle from our walking trail. It was a 20-minute detour to get over there and back. This is one of the largest castle fortifications in Switzerland, and a Swiss heritage site of national importance.

Information panels throughout the castle site give information about the history and uses of the castle. Apparently there was a settlement here in 1500 BC, and also used as a Roman outpost in the year 400, but mainly it was an impregnable fortification from 1250 to 1523.

Entrance to the large castle ruins. We were a little worried that there might not be any access at this time of year, but the gates were open.

We got here at 11:30 and spent about 40 minutes inspecting all corners of this huge fortress. There was a lot of information on the panels as well. The bell tower is part of what was the fortress chapel.

View up the valley from the fortress walls, to the town of Mesocco.

Good thing I was wearing a pink jacket, so that you can see me well!

We always enjoy inspecting castle ruins, especially when we are the only people here!

Technically, I wasn't supposed to climb up on the wall, but it makes for a great photo. I was very careful not to damage anything.

From the castle walls we look down the valley. From here we will walk through the village of Soazza and go have a look at the church on the hill, which is also visible from the bus ride up the valley.

A map of the castle layout. The bell tower dates from 1067!!!!

Backdrop of the steep mountains of the Mesolcina Valley.

My favourite photo....

At the base of the walls were several of these "spy holes". I had to stoop quite low to get this photo!

At 12:10 we left the castle to continue our hike.

A big disappointment for us was that the castle church of Santa Maria was closed/locked!! We had read that the church contains fantastic wall frescoes and painted wooden ceiling panels. We hope that the church would be open in the summer months for the tourists, so will return at a later time for a look inside.

(As an aside, this is a photo from Google Maps, taken by someone named "Roberta Vigo" in April of this year. So the church must be open at some time).

Continuing on our leisurely walk, with lovely sunshine now as the clouds have cleared.

Through the bare trees, we get a look at the castle again.

A look back at the castle on the hill as we continue along the old railway line.

The trail we are following is called the "Via San Bernardino" (Local Trail no. 733) or "Sentiero di Valle", meaning "Valley Trail".

At 12:30 we found the perfect spot for our picnic lunch!

Continuing on our walk, we crossed several of these viaducts, created for the original train line.

There were also some pretty, attractive tunnels along the way. Imagine the work to build a railway line like this, to only use it for about 70 years! (This upper part of the line suffered weather damage in 1978 and was not repaired).

Before getting here, we actually were not aware that we would be walking along the original railway line, so this was a real treat!

What kind of tree is this, that flowers in November?

Another look up the valley as we enter the town of Soazza from the north at 1 p.m. This is the town we saw when we were at the castle. We had originally hoped to walk to Lostallo (2¼ hours from here), but only made it to Cabbiolo (1½ hours from here).

On this side of the town was another church, San Rocco, which dates back to 1530, was rebuilt in 1633 and restored in 1937.

Beautiful interior of the San Rocco parish church in Soazza.

A look behind us from in front of the San Rocco church to the very cute little building which was the town's original railway station along the Mesocco Line. Currently, the town's library is housed in this building.

Interesting juxtaposition of palm trees and steep, snow-covered mountains!

This pretty building is labeled as "Hotel/Ristorante Al Cacciatore", but it seems to no longer operate as such.

Heading down the main street in Soazza, to San Martino church on the hill-top.

"St.Martin of Tours" sits on a promontory and can be seen from up and down the valley. Initially mentioned in documents of 1219, it received a Baroque makeover in 1639. The secondary gateway chapel looked intriguing as well.

Unfortunately, both the church and gateway chapel were locked. Because of the reflection, we couldn't even see properly through the windows here.

Heading up the long staircase with high hopes of seeing inside the church. My hopes were soon dashed.

A little walk around the church to look at the view up and down the valley. On the left is the village of Soazza and the lovely parish church which I found to be quite pretty, and far up the valley you can see the castle ruins.

This view is south down the valley. From here we continued to the right of the Canton Road and river, still along the railway line. The river is called the Moesa, and has historically been notorious for leaving its course in heavy rains, making the building of the railway an extra challenge.

Ironically, the town's website lists this as the top attraction, with a particularly beautiful organ and valuable artwork to admire. Too bad we could not get in. Perhaps it's open in summer as well?

Heading back down now to continue on our walk. That house is very pretty.

From the church back down to the railway road was a winding path of cobbles. At the bottom, a tunnel leads beneath the railway bed to the vehicle road. Back when the railway was in operation, people would access the church via the tunnel and this cobblestone path.

The Moesa River.

Pastures on the other side of the river.

A look back at San Martino Church on the promontory, as we continue down the valley.

Another tunnel, another viaduct, now in the shadow of the western mountain. From here we descended to the river where there was more sunshine.

We then walked for the next 3½ kilometers (about 45 minutes) next to the Moesa river, where we were back in the sunshine.

Due to some clean-up work going on next to the river, we had to take a small detour back to the road, with another look up the valley.

A large herd of highland cattle were being let out to pasture. The babies look pretty surprised to see us!

Continuing along the Moesa River.

Continuing along the Moesa River on a comfortable trail.

There was a lot of debris in the river, leftovers from the damage caused by the June 21st flooding.

As we reached Cabbiolo (where we ended our walk), we passed this flock of sheep being guarded by livestock dogs. They take their job very seriously and carefully consider what our intentions might be!

I forgot that you are not supposed to run near livestock guardian dogs, so when I ran to catch up to Urs, they became very agitated and started barking and running alongside.... The sheep don't seem at all bothered.

We got to the bus stop in Cabbiolo at 14:47, and the bus was expected at 14:51, so just enough time to pop into the "Capella di San Nicalao".... except it was locked as well. Local websites state that this church was consecrated in 1611 and restored in the 1960's. The frescoes on the outside walls are from 1611.