Surlej
Surlej ( , Putèr for "above the lake" / "beyond the lake") is a district of the Upper Engadine municipality of Silvaplana in the canton of Graubünden .
location
Surlej is located south of the Inn between Lej da Champfèr and Lej da Silvaplauna , at the foot of Piz Surlej and Corvatsch . The settlement is about 2 km from the center of Silvaplana.
history
The main part of the municipality of Silvaplana used to be on the sunny and sheltered plain where Surlej is today. The district of Silvaplana was mainly used by mules who wanted to cross the Julier Pass to Italy. Surlej was repeatedly destroyed by floods from the Ova da Surlej in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result of these disasters, the village center moved to the safer Silvaplana. In 1873 a dam was built above Surlej, which diverts the stream westward into Lake Silvaplana. This created the waterfall, which offers an impressive backdrop in summer. But securing the village stream could not stop the decline of Surlej; until 1960 only a few lived in Surlej. When the Corvatschbahn was completed in 1963, life came back to the village. An intense construction boom began that continues to this day. The Nikolauskapelle stood in the village from 1757 until the demolition in 1955 .
Population and infrastructure
| Population development | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | 1786 | 1804 | 1900 | 2000 | 2016 |
| Residents | 40 | 34 | 6th | 164 | 170 |
Like the community, the 170 permanent residents of the settlement are also bilingual in German - Rhaeto-Romanic. The particularly intensive second home construction in Surlej has also brought many Italian speakers to the village.
To the west of Surlej, at the foot of the Crest Alta, is the Silvaplana water treatment plant. It also purifies the sewage from Sils and Champfèr.
Attractions
gallery
Winter tourism in the village
Second homes
Sgraffito on turkey
new (2011) hotel resort at the valley station of the Corvatsch Bergbahnen AG
Web links
- Ottavio Clavuot: Surlej. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Surlej on the ETHorama platform