Chiavenna is located exactly in the center of the area. Here the Bregaglia Valley from the east, the San Giacomo or Spluga Valley from the north and southward to Lake Como, which is the traditional area known as Valchiavenna, all meet to form the larger area of our interest. Chiavenna takes its name from "chiave" or "key" as the Town is the junction for highways northward to the Spluga Pass and Maloja Pass in the Alps.

Valchiavenna is rich in history and culture. However, its people have been forced by the scarcity of economic resources to exploit every single piece of land as well as seek work for the winter in nearby cities. Many have left Valchiavenna to immigrate to foreign lands in search of fortune and a new way of life.

For centuries, even the people of Valchiavenna who prospered had to continually battle nature and face a harsh, seldom rich soil. The area was able to benefit from economic and cultural resources and exchanges because of the system of roads serving the alpine region.
A Seventeenth century monograph on the area tells us of an agricultural system unable to produce enough foodstuffs for the people of Valchiavenna with little opportunity for trade or export of goods.

Since Roman times, roads in Valchiavenna were the lifeblood of the area and the primary economic and cultural resource due to their link to the balance of Europe via the Spluga Pass and the Maloja Pass. Traders, armies, pilgrims, merchants and goods all utilized the roads of Valchiavenna, providing a positive economic outlook. After the Swiss built the tunnel at St. Gothard, the major flow of traffic shifted westward. Chiavenna was no longer an important hub for travel in the Alpine region. The economy of the Valchiavenna area declined.

Valchiavenna has had to reinvent itself. Tourism, enviromental care, local art and history can be new opportunities. The residents of the area must pursue long term progress and not fall victim to fanciful, ill-fated ventures promising rapid gains.