Presa Abandoned Village and Chapel

Abandoned since the 16th century, the settlement of Presa lies across the river from San Carlo. Avalanches and landslides had made them uninhabitable and drove people to San Carlo, where they built a new life. The tower houses still preserved today are among the oldest buildings in the Bavona Valley. Cellar, kitchen, chamber and attic lay on top of each other on four floors. While most of these monuments slowly decay, the chapel's bell tower (1513-15) rises whimsically. The main room with the wooden gate is also quite well preserved. The fragments of the Renaissance frescoes from 1524 were detached after a flood in 1996 and brought to the chapel of San Carlo. The small detour into the archaeological wonderland only takes about 15 minutes from San Carlo and is definitely recommended (after San Carlo follow the road up the valley, shortly after the valley station of a transport cable car, a path branches off to the left and leads over a bridge to Presa).