Evangelische Kirche Bivio

The Italian language had already become at home in Bivio at the beginning of the 16th century due to the strong immigration from Bregaglia. In 1584, a part of the Bivians adopted the new faith, which further strengthened the influence of Italian. For several decades, Catholics and Protestants lived on good terms and used the existing Gallus Church together. The situation changed when the Capuchins took over the pastoral care in Bivio in 1631. The Protestant people showed a certain aversion to the Capuchins, since they were considered exponents of the Counter-Reformed. And in the following three decades, the confessional conditions of the municipality of Bivio became the main point of contention of the Three Leagues. The Protestant Synod, the cathedral chapter in Chur and finally the Bundestag repeatedly dealt with the presence of the Fathers in the parity Bivio, with the question of the use of the Gallsu Church as well as the cemetery. Hotheads on both sides repeatedly stirred up the denominational conflict, seeking help and support from foreign brothers in the Three Leagues and in the Swiss Confederation. At the height of the conflicts in the early summer of 1657, when on the one hand the number of soldiers who were to be called up was already determined and ammunition stocks were being stockpiled, it would have been little longer necessary for the occupation to expand into a religious war. At a congress of the Three Leagues in Chur (on 9 August 1657), the decades-long dispute over the Galluskirche came to an end. The Reformed renounced their rights to the Galluskiche, were allowed to build a hall for worship in a private house and the Catholics cede the bell from the hospice of St. Peter on the Septimer. The Bivians do not seem to have liked the hall and later built a church.

Information on accessibility

• Reformed Church in Bivio is at ground level and accessible by wheelchair. Note: However, hinged doors have to be opened by hand and are a bit narrow.