Each era leaves behind it some indication of its past, whether it be buildings or natural granite structures. The buildings of the abandoned mountain pastures of Switzerland’s Ticino Mountains are largely forgotten today, but they continue to be silent witnesses of a time when alpine pasture farming was an important livelihood for many and which came to an end only around sixty years ago.

In the steep and dangerous terrain, alpine pasture farming required a safe network of paths to take the animals up to the high meadows and those who built them were great masters of road construction. To visit the abandoned mountain pastures, we have to go to the side valleys of the Maggia and Verzasca Valleys.

Along the paths there are many chapels and wayside shrines, and they are also valuable witnesses of their time, along with old frescoes. The images express the deep religious faith of the population, their trust in God, as well as their doubts and fears. Thus we see how the people imagined God The Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus in His Passion.

Few still keep animals such as sheep and goats, which have again recently become easy prey for wolves.. Some from the alpine pastures of central Switzerland keep Scottish Highland cattle while others breed horses and donkeys, hopefully not for the meat trade. To encounter domestic animals on these pastures is few and far between, however, there are growing numbers of chamois here, although they, too, also risk becoming easy prey for far too many Ticino hunters.

For centuries the alpine pastures were important for the survival of the people in these valleys. For thousands of years, Man in symbiosis with nature has shaped the landscape in which he lived, and learned to survive even in a less productive environment. It is time to rediscover our relationship with our surroundings but this only makes sense if we know how to interpret the signs of the times.