Stierva

Stierva is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.

In the 2000 census, some two-thirds of the population declared Romansh as a first language, with most of the rest speaking German.

History

Stierva is first mentioned in 841 Seturiuo. Until 1943 Stierva was known as Stürvis.

Geography

Before the merger, Stierva had a total area of 10.5 km² (4.1 sq mi). Of this area, 49.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 42.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality is located in the Alvaschein sub-district of the Albula district. It is a haufendorf (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) above the lower Albula valley.