Attractions
Puncètè archaeological site
Having completed various projects, we have focused on the archaeological recovery of the Puncètè settlement, which, together with the “neighbourhoods” of Curzútt, San Barnárd and Pcian de Rungs, make up the ancient village of Monte Carasso, where our ancestors lived on a permanent basis until 1700.
The ancient nucleus of Puncètè, perhaps the most important existing settlement on the mountain slope above Monte Carasso, underwent a comprehensive conservation intervention between 2018 and 2023, under the supervision of the Canton Office of Cultural Heritage.
Located on a natural south-facing plateau, the nucleus was once surrounded by terraced fields cultivated with cereals and other vegetables. It consisted of about twenty buildings, of which only the "grà" (*) has survived the passage of time. The dwellings, adjacent to which were barns, stables, pigsties, and storage sheds, were small, square-shaped, with a dry-stone base, a central hearth, and roofs originally perhaps thatched or covered with shingles and later with stone slabs.
Populated probably as early as the year one thousand (the nearby church of San Barnárd, dating from the 11th-12th century, was the parish church until the early 19th century), the settlement of Puncètè - like Curzútt, San Barnárd, Puzeránch, Pciagn di Runsc, Mudiún, Sprüg’a, and Lòri - was constantly inhabited by the population of the Monte Carasso community, who, exploiting the resources of the area (timber, pastures, chestnuts, fruit trees, etc.), were engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry following seasonal rhythms.
For reasons still unknown today (lack of drinking water, diseases?), Puncètè was gradually abandoned starting from the 18th century, becoming a sporadically used pasture, and then definitively declining and becoming overgrown from the early 20th century onwards.
In 2018, the Curzútt-San Barnárd Foundation decided to intervene in the area to preserve the memory of Puncètè's original identity, consolidating the ruins, restoring the "grà," and enhancing the surrounding rural landscape (terraced fields, boundary walls, chestnut groves).
(*) The "grà" (a dialectal term, called "metato" in Italian) is a small stone building used for drying chestnuts, which are placed on a grate and subjected to moderate heat.
One of the aims of the project, overseen by the Cantonal Office for Cultural Property, is to restore the traditional chestnut drying hut, put it back into operation, and include it in our Chestnut Project aimed predominantly at young people and school groups.
A total expenditure of CHF 402,000 has been earmarked for three separate projects:
- The restoration of the traditional chestnut drying hut.
- The restoration of the archaeological site.
- Photographic documentation of the project and exhibitions.
Click HERE to learn more about the project.
