Verbella Valley

The original name for the Verballa Valley, namely Val Bella, is just one of about 415 Rheatian-Romanian meadow names in the community of Gaschurn-Partenen and points to early settlement by the Rheatia-Romanians.  Starting from Galtuer or the Small Vermunt Valley over the close link through the Zeinisjoch, the Rheatia-Romanian farmers also developed the meadows in the Verbella Valley.  If we go by the name, it seems like they really liked the Alpine land.  From the 14th century, farmers from Galtuer, Partenen and Gaschurn slowly took over from the Rheatian-Romanian pioneers as they gradually disappeared and the Walsers were integrated in Galtuer.  In the 16th century, the Alpine agricultural relationship between the May fields and the Alp in Val Bella moved to the forefront with the development of landholder relationships on the May fields in Tafamunt. 

Some of the May field owners in Tafamunt also owned alpine pastures in Verbella during the first half of the 16th century.  In those days you could get to the Alp from the Tafamunt May field by taking the old cattle path over the Fraschigrand-Gilger May field, the Blantaflas, the Wiege and the Verbella Valley.  We assume that the situation was similar on into the 17th century.

The entrance to the Verbella Valley is south-east of the Versal Peak.  You get an unexpected, comprehensive look at the natural and cultural landscapes between the Gorfen Peak at 2,558 meters in the Paznaun Valley and the Versal Peak at 2,462 meters.  The Gofen peak towers above the district of Wirl in Galtuer, points to the sky and acts as a point of reference in the landscape.  The Versal peak, on the other hand, is a huge massif at the entrance to the Verbella Valley.  If you look carefully, you can make out various traces of the historical utilization of the land.  There are also traces of the utilization of water power along the Verbella Brook.  The surface forms on the flanks of the Verbella Valley allow for interesting speculations about prehistoric development in the area.