The Story of Madulain

The most striking feature of Madulain is apparent to anyone who strolls through the village: here, one house nestles up against the other, beautifully in a unified Engadine style and as if seeking protection against any inclemency that might penetrate from outside. This compact, authentic village scene is unique in the Upper Engadine. Here, life still takes place only within the village itself, because, since tourism only hesitantly found its way here, old Engadine houses did not have to give way to large hotel buildings and holiday homes were only built in a settlement a little above the village.

Located between Zuoz and La Punt, Madulain was and is the smallest municipality in the Upper Engadine, with a population of around 230. The following figures are more impressive, however: the village lies at 1700 metres above sea level, but the municipal area extends up to the summit of the 3162-metre-high Piz Val Müra. Madulain also includes two alps and an enclave in Val Chamuera, although the latter has not been managed by the municipality for many years: it has been leased ‘in perpetuity’ to the Orlandi family of Bever (now the von Planta family of Zuoz, descendants of the Orlandis) for almost 170 years.

The oldest archaeological find showed that the house Suot Mulin was already built 700-1000 years ago. At that time it was at the bottom of the village and directly connected to the marshy area by the Inn. This is interpreted as an indication that the settlement of Madulain was originally further up, near Guardaval Castle, where the road from Zuoz crossed the Es-cha stream on its way to the Albula Pass. The development of the present village centre began in 1507/09 with the construction of the church of San Batrumieu, when a new route was laid out from Zuoz to Madulain (today's Via Veglia). The first houses to be built around this new church are, for example, the Guardaval, Sur Baseglia and Plazzet houses.

If we look for the name of the village in old documents, we find it for the first time in a charter from 1137, which records the largest land sale in the canton at that time: Counts Ulrich and Adalbert of Gamertingen sold all their possessions in the Upper Engadin, including ‘Madulene’, to the Bishop of Chur. It is not known why this trade took place, but we do know the price that Bishop Konrad I of Biberegg had to pay: he acquired the entire area for 80 silver coins and 600 ounces of gold. The origin of the village name is also unclear. Since there was no standardised spelling in the Middle Ages, various versions emerged, including Madulene, Madulens or Maduley. The most likely explanation is that it comes from ‘metallum’, since copper had been mined in Val d'Es-cha since prehistoric times.

Madulains' location between the Albula Pass and the former capital Zuoz led to the village serving as a customs post in the early Middle Ages. Remains of the old customs house can still be seen at Punt Gianet. The construction of the striking Guardaval Castle (now in ruins) is also thanks to this function, and the Bishop of Chur and his vassals used it both as a sign of their power and to secure the seigneurial rights. In 1420, it burnt down for unknown reasons and was never rebuilt. A heroic-romantic, but unrealistic explanation can be found in the story of the last governor of Guardaval and Adam of Camogask (Rhaeto-Romanic: Chamues-ch), a famous Engadin legend.

Madulain was originally a district of Zuoz, but from 1530 the village began to break away from its ‘parent municipality’ until finally, in 1543, the so-called division deed sealed its independence. The Madulainers also gave themselves their own constitution: a proud 85 articles regulated almost all aspects of life in the small village and set out in detail, among other things, the use of the alp and pastures, summer grazing rights, cattle trading, bull keeping and timber levies. Economically, village life was shaped by agriculture, but as everywhere at mountain passes, transit traffic also provided the people with additional work and income: By the mid-18th century, Madulain was home to horse drivers, blacksmiths, cartwrights and other related professions, along with their families. Although tourism did not take root in the sleepy village to the same extent as in the other Engadine communities, Madulain was never poor, which may also be due to the fact that the numerous emigrants, mainly confectioners or brandy sellers, sent considerable sums of money to their homeland. In Madulain, too, stately homes were built from this fresh capital.

Even today, Madulain is not one of the big holiday resorts offering a wide range of activities. The village had to be ‘discovered’ by travellers in the past and still is, and is considered an insider tip.