Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Lakes

Pigniu Dam

Lakes

Pigniu Dam

Recommended by 46 mountain bikers out of 47

Cycling is not permitted at this location

You'll need to dismount and push your bike.

Save

Location: Ilanz/Glion, Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland

Save

See rides here

Take Me There

Routes here

Best Mountain Biking Routes to Pigniu Dam

4.8

(11)

182

riders

1. Lag da Pigniu Dam – Lag da Breil / Brigelser Lake loop from Ilanz/Glion

48.3km

04:53

1,540m

Expert mountain bike ride. Very good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Expert

4.8

(20)

137

riders

2. Lag da Pigniu Dam – Lag da Breil / Brigelser Lake loop from Breil/Brigels

25.8km

02:27

830m

Intermediate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Intermediate

4.8

(20)

135

riders

3. Church of St. Zeno, Ladir – View of Falera loop from Breil/Brigels

55.6km

05:21

1,710m

Expert mountain bike ride. Very good fitness required. Advanced riding skills necessary.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Expert

Tips

robam

August 4, 2020

A popular destination, just a few steps from the car park.

TIP: Circumnavigation of the manageable reservoir!

Translated by Google •

robam

August 4, 2020

In 1989, a dam was built in the small valley in the small mountain community of Pigniu / Panix in the Grisons Rhine Valley. Since September 1999, the sober wall has shown the hiker a completely different side. Already at the first turns to Pigniu towards the reservoir you can see white and black squares. Then suddenly a huge bright blue tower flashes out between the fir trees, behind it pawns from a chess game, lying and standing. The image disappears as you continue walking. But then heads appear, an entire army, with huge caps on their heads, surmounted by just as many pointed bayonets. And then you see: From right to left, Russian soldiers, who are 12 meters tall, march in a long column over the dam to the tower.

This is exactly what the native Engadine artist Martin Valär wanted to achieve with his monumental work. For a long time, he had dreamed of turning a dam into a painting - despite the particular difficulties that arise from the dimensions and the design alone. The Panix Wall was almost ideal in this regard. Built as a weight wall with a height of 50 m and a crown length of 240 m, it offered a huge concrete screen.

Translated by Google •

robam

August 4, 2020

The planned start of work in March 1999 had to be postponed to May due to the heavy snow and blocked access. In around 25 working days, Martin Valär realized his 80 m wide and 40 m high picture with the simplest of means. He abseiled over 300 times with a bucket of paint and a roller over the wall. Using huge stencils, the soldiers were sketched on the wall and the fallen “peasants” were placed using a sophisticated system. On July 3, 1999, the Russian soldiers received their white pants. For this alone, Valär had to abseil 27 times over the wall. For 20 to 30 years, the exterior emulsion paint should defy the weather conditions.

Martin Valär's idea for the monumental painting was the game of chess, the game popular in Russia with a military streak: In 1799, the Russian general Alexander Wassilijewitsch Suworow marched with his army from Elm to Pigniu over the Panixer Pass while retreating from the French. The weakened army was overwhelmed by the arduous route and the early fallen snow, so that it arrived in Pigniu in a very decimated state, where it plundered the whole village.

Suvorov is depicted on the dam wall as a wavering blue tower - this general, who had been pushed back and forth with his army by the rulers of the time like on a war chess field. His fallen soldiers are given a memorial by the chess pawn figures: the surviving Russian soldiers move across the wall in an almost endless row.

One thing is important for Martin Valär: “You should go to people with art, not the other way around. A picture without a viewer is meaningless. My art is meant to inspire people to think. It is a process that begins in the artist and triggers something in the viewer through the medium of the image. Art can and should be perishable. "

Translated by Google •

In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!

Details

Informations

Elevation 1,450 m

Weather

Today

Saturday 11 October

14°C

6°C

0 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 1.0 km/h

Most visited during

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See rides here

Take Me There

Location: Ilanz/Glion, Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland

Pigniu Dam

1. Lag da Pigniu Dam – Lag da Breil / Brigelser Lake loop from Ilanz/Glion

2. Lag da Pigniu Dam – Lag da Breil / Brigelser Lake loop from Breil/Brigels

3. Church of St. Zeno, Ladir – View of Falera loop from Breil/Brigels

Other Popular Places to Check Out

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️