Stampa: Giacometti Sites and Cultural Trails

Stampa brings together a photographic look at Alberto Giacometti, the history of the atelier and several named cultural trails. If you are planning a cultural getaway, you can distinguish the highlights by their focus: photographic documentation, family history or walks with stops in several places.

Giacometti in photographs and at the atelier

The Alberto Giacometti photographic trail documents his final stays in his native Bergell with 44 black-and-white photographs. Some of the images had not previously been published. A map insert helps you find the exact locations where the photographs were taken. A documented walk through Stampa to Alberto Giacometti’s grave in the San Giorgio cemetery near Borgonovo is also suggested. The trail is freely accessible; check local conditions before setting out.

The history of the Giacometti Atelier dates back to 1906, when, at Giovanni Giacometti’s initiative, a small stable in the center of Stampa was converted into an atelier. Giovanni’s wife, Annetta, and his children often modeled for the painter there. After Giovanni’s death in 1933, his son Alberto used the atelier. The house where Alberto grew up and the Centro Giacometti are also in the center of the village. These places represent different aspects of the family’s history: Giovanni’s work, Alberto’s use of the atelier and his upbringing in Stampa.

Cultural trails and their stops

The Sentiero Giacometti runs from Borgonovo and San Giorgio via Creista, Samarovan, Coltura, San Pietro and Palü to Stampa. Its sequence includes several stops rather than focusing on a single place. The trail introduces settings and stories that are significant to 20th-century art far beyond Switzerland’s borders. Stampa was a constant point of connection for the four Swiss artists Giovanni, Augusto, Alberto and Diego Giacometti.

A cultural walk leads from Stampa through Coltura and Borgonovo, ending at the Ciäsa Granda Museum. The ethnographic museum displays works by several members of the Giacometti family. In Borgonovo, a walk also points out the birthplaces of Alberto and Diego Giacometti, as well as Annette Stampa. On the way back to Stampa, it passes the Church of San Giorgio, where family members are buried.

More historic sites

The Church of San Giorgio in Borgonovo was rebuilt in 1694. Its interior features a stained-glass window by Augusto Giacometti. The so-called Wannengrab of Stampa is in the Palü district, directly on the southern bank of the Mera, which flows through Bergell. It is considered the only known grave of its kind in Switzerland. The history of sacred architecture and this archaeological site thus complement the Giacometti connections, without necessarily forming stops on the same cultural trail.

The different trail focuses can help you decide how to plan your visit: the photographic trail draws attention to the images and the exact places where they were taken. The Sentiero Giacometti can be understood through its sequence of districts and villages, while the walk from Stampa has the Ciäsa Granda Museum as its destination. This can help you decide whether you are more interested in photographic documentation, the history of the artists’ family or a route with named stops.

Discover more destinations: Samaden, Madulain, Soglio Gr, Pontresina, Silvaplana, Bregaglia, Surlej, Zuoz

For the main travel overview: Maloja.