In the Anzasca Valley, the ancient village of Macugnaga still retains a sense of the great Walser tradition. The distinctive elements are alive and tangible first of all in the typical architecture of the houses, made using the Blockbau system, characterised by larch logs slotted in between one another.
Signs of the village’s Germanic past can still be heard in the tisch language, today spoken by the elderly and rediscovered by some young enthusiasts, can be admired in the traditional costumes, worn by the women of the village, and in the Dorf, the old village centre dating back to 1200.
The points of particular interest in the Dorf of Macugnaga are the cemetery and the Old Church, with its centuries-old lime tree, a precious testimony and a true symbol of the Walser village.
According to legend, reported by the writer Albert Schott in 1842, the old lime tree in Macugnaga was planted in the second half of 1200. In the past, administrative or judicial meetings were held in the shade of the tree. Today, its trunk, measuring more than eight metres (25 ft) in circumference is the best testimony of its venerable age and of the generations that have succeeded one another under its green foliage.
The Old Church of Macugnaga was built in 1260 next to the Dorf huts. Over the centuries, the building underwent various reconstructions and renovations, with the last extensions in 1560 and the construction of the bell tower, which dates back to 1580.
The Old Church, a true symbol of this Walser cradle at the foot of Monte Rosa, is surrounded by the ancient cemetery, which is also the resting place for mountaineers and mountain guides who died climbing the spectacular wall of Monte Rosa.
