Traveling in The Alps: Maloja Pass

The Maloja Pass is sometimes called ‘the pass that never was’ due to its geographical peculiarity. It connects the Engadin Valley with the Bregaglia Valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland. If you travel on it from the Engadin side, the view from the starting point will take your breath away. 

In local usage, the Maloja Pass starts off in Maloja village at 1815 m (6000 ft.) and drops from there to Casaccia at 1458 m (4800 ft.). That the starting point is also its culmination is only one of the anomalies of the pass. Maloja village forms politically a part of the Bregaglia Valley and in 2010 all communities in the valley have merged into one; the pass now is the connection between two quarters of the same village.

The peculiarity of the pass goes back to a geological phenomenon that occurred over the last few hundred thousand years. The Mera River to the South of the Engadin Valley had a much steeper gradient than the Inn River and therefore eroded the mountains towards Lake Como at a much faster rate. The following break-off deviated two tributary rivers from the Inn to the Mera. This resulted in the precipice falling steeply from Maloja into the Bregaglia Valley.

Archaeological finds show that Maloja itself had been inhabited already 2000 BC. The finds though are a mystery, as a plethora of cultural debris dated to 1500 BC identifies the inhabitants as belonging to a culture commonly found in the area of modern Hungary and Slovakia. The Romans were of the opinion that the people of the Bregaglia Valley and Maloja belonged to a separate people they called the Bregalei. We may assume that they were right; they usually were.

It is therefore probable that the Maloja was already used in pre-Roman times; the Romans built a fully fledged road over it which crumbled in tune with the Roman Empire. The pass was never of primary importance and only gained a lot of traffic in the 19th century connecting Northern Italy to the Engadin.

Count Camille de Renesse wanted to make Maloja into a tourist destination for the upper classes. He built the Maloja Palace Hotel between 1882 and 1884. It is built at the most spectacular point of Maloja and walking around it will make your breath stop. The village church stems from the same period. Today, it is a Protestant church but it started live as an Anglican church.

Taking the plunge down the pass, you can understand why the inhabitants of the Bregaglia Valley used Maloja not only as a summering place for their herds but also as a safe haven in times of trouble. During the Napoleonic Wars, they tried to stay out of the way of the French and the Austrians as they took turns stealing their cattle and their stocks. 

Further reading
History in The Alps: Bernina Pass
History in The Alps: Fluela Pass
History of The FIS Alpine World Ski Championship