Tiefencastel

Geschichte

Tiefencastel is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.HistoryTiefencastel is first mentioned in 831 as in Castello Impitinis. Starting around in the 14th Century it was known as Tüffenkasten.GeographyBefore the merger, Tiefencastel had a total area of 14.9km2. Of this area, 20.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (27%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).It was the capital of the Albula district. The former municipality is located at the foot of the Albula and Julier passes.DemographicsTiefencastel had a population of 254., 15.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.2%. Most of the population speaks German, with Romansh being second most common language and Italian the third .