The hamlet of Pontevilla is a border village between the Engadine and South Tyrol and therefore between Switzerland and Italy
It's a a borderland area here: The settlement of Pontevilla (Puntweil) is the westernmost point of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. At the end of the village is the border to the Swiss Engadine and thus also a language border: While Romansh, a Rhaeto-Romanic language, is spoken on the Swiss side, German is the first official language on the Italian side in Tubre.
There were an administration building, barracks and two inns built here after WWI, serving trade and border control. A small cluster village with the St. Roch Church in the middle developed from this: Pontevilla. All around, cross-border paths such as the one from the San Giovanni in Müstair Monastery to the Turnauna and the Glorenza Waalwege paths lead past the little village. This monastery on the Swiss side is absolutely worth seeing: Founded already in the 8th century by none other than Charlemagne, you can visit the Abbey Museum and enter the monastery church and the Carolingian Holy Cross Chapel in this stunning World Heritage Site.
The surrounding hamlets, such as Tubre and Rivaira, as well as the Swiss village of Müstair, about 2 km away, can also be explored by bicycle. For winter sports, you can head to the neighbouring Tubre village, where the Val d'Avigna branches off, an idyllic side valley with a cross-country ski track, a sledge run and numerous destinations for snowshoeing and winter hikes.
