Crotti in the Valchiavenna valley

Natural natural grottos, which are ideally suited as cellars/storage rooms for wine, cheese, etc. These crotti were formed under the large rocks by the ancient landslides. The so-called "sorel", a draft of air with a constant temperature, blows all year round between the crevices of these boulders.
In the Valchiavenna valley you can find the crotti in practically every village; wedged between the rocks, one next to the other.
Some Crotti are freely accessible and have become restaurants that offer typical and traditional cuisine.
At the beginning of September each year in Chiavenna di "Sagra dei Crotti" takes place.

What are crotti?
Between the cracks of these rocks, the "sorel" blows, a breeze with a constant temperature of around 8 ° C, so cool in summer and mild in winter. This draft is the specialty of the Crotto, because it makes the room ideal, both for the maturation of the wine, since the temperature remains constant, and for the maturation of the sausage products such as bresaola (Bündnerflleisch) and cheese, Bergg cheese and dairy cheese.
Few have tried to explain the phenomenon physically, but it must be said that it has not yet been the subject of a systematic investigation.

In front of the "Crotti" there are mostly stone benches and stone tables. There you can spend a few cozy hours and savor typical products and roast the famous costine on a stone over the fire. In the better Crotti there was also a small room in which you could warm yourself by the fireplace in winter. Some of these rooms even have a balcony and are decorated with paintings, some even on the outer wall, such as that of the patricians of Pratogiano or of Cortinaccio in Prosto di Piuro, where that of the Vertemate-Franchi family catches the eye.
The architectural and urban development value of the Crotti must not be forgotten, because they fit perfectly into the natural landscape and camouflage themselves in the green of the vegetation and the brown of the rocks.

The Crotto is mostly privately owned in the Valchiavenna Valley (only some are open to the public as restaurants) and you inherit it like any other property. However, in order to prevent inheritance from being divided, most private Crotti have several owners. However, in order to avoid conflicts here, too, there are several small cupboards inside the Crotti, in which the wine barrel and the “mezzo” (half-liter jug) in terracotta are located, an essential vessel for reviving the spirit of the Crotto; the tables outside are then for everyone.

Etymologically, the name Crotto is derived from the Latin "crypta" or the medieval "crota", which comes from the Greek "crypta", i.e. grotto, which was then Italianized into grotto. With the grotto, it has the structural characteristics with walls made of living rock, the smaller and larger boulders from the landslides of the mountains above. However, one must not forget that the fundamental difference to a normal grotto is the "sorel".

To understand the authentic meaning of life in the Crotto, a text from 1781 in the Crotto Giovanantoni of San Giovanni in Chiavenna, which says: "Si vende vino bono e si tiene scola de umanità" (Good wine is sold and School of life held). One thinks further of the humanitas of the Romans, the friendliness, the seriousness also in the cheerfulness, the sense of the ego, the inner balance, the respect for the others in a human-just place where one, to put it with the words which the poet Giovanni Bertacchi from Chiavenna wrote, "se mangia e se beef in dialet" (one eats and drinks in dialect).

Up until a few decades ago, it was the custom for families to go to the Crotto in the evening to have dinner there, in the fresh air and in the green. The Crotto has actually always been an ideal place to do business with a glass of wine. Workers also ended their working day there when it was particularly hot. The crotto has always been a meeting place. For the youth of the last post-war period, it was also a meeting point for small parties with friends, because here, outside of the home, you could sing until late at night without any risk of disturbing the peace. Above all, you can still sit down and eat here at a simple, rectangular stone table. It is usually said that this small and large hospitality of the residents of Chiavenna comes from here.

In order to give the Crotti great importance, especially those in Pratogiano in Chiavenna, the Sagra dei crotti was created in 1956. At this folk festival, tastings, music, dance and culture will be offered. Usually the event takes place on the second weekend in September and attracts people from the various provinces of Lombardy and the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Even if the rush on these days, when even private Crotti open the gates, is very large and it is not possible to enjoy the carefree poetry and the authentic atmosphere of the Crotto, the event still has a great response and remains an invitation to discover the area during a somewhat quieter time.

Where are the Crotti?
In the Valchiavenna valley there are around 80 crotti in the different places.

Almost every village has its own crotti (with the exception of the Splügental, where only those of Scandolera and San Guglielmo are known, and then those north of Campodolcino and the lonely crotto of Mottala, near Fraciscio).


The densest concentration of Crotti is in the municipality of Chiavenna, where there are over 18 areas with Crotti (not only Pratogiano, but also Alpetto, San Giovanni, Uschione, etc.). This is followed by Villa di Chiavenna with 14 Crotti, without counting the isolated Crotti on the alpine pastures on the south side; Piuro with 11 and Samolaco with 10.

Crotti can be found far up in the air, so are those of Dalò (S. Giacomo) at 1149 m above sea level, Bodengo (Gordona) at 1027 and at Fòp (Menarola) at 934 m above sea level. to call.

Since nature has no limits, the Crotti, despite the customs duties, can be found as far as the Swiss Bergell, to Bondo, in Promontogno and in Vicosoprano. Here is the public Crotto des Albigna, at 1127 meters above sea level. Back in the direction of Chiavenna, the Ghiggi di Villa, the Quartino near Santa Croce and the Fuìn near the double waterfall Acquafraggia and the Belvedere in Prosto are open to the public. The same applies in Chiavenna for the Tini ai Roi and the Caurga, as well as the Giovanantoni in San Giovanni and in Pratogiano for the Crotti Al Prato, Torricelli, Refrigerio and Ombra. In the latter, the gallery was artificially excavated in the second half of the 19th century for the fermentation of the beer, after which it was used for the maturation of the wine and today the cheese.
Some crotti in Pratogiano are used for the preservation and sale of fruits and vegetables.
Further public crotti in the lower half of the valley are the Crotàsc of Mese, opened in 1927, and the Cròt of Gordona.

Usually the Crotti form groups, close together or on top of one another, but of course there are also isolated Crotti.
In some cases they are houses and crotti, as in San Giovanni of Chiavenna, where several ancient houses are built above the crotto, with the characteristic gable roofs that support themselves on the slope.

Although this phenomenon is particularly widespread in the Valchiavenna valley, the crotto is still not an exclusive phenomenon in the valley, but also occurs in the Como area, on Lake Como and in the Mesox valley.

REGION: Val Chiavenna excursion tips/sights