The Swiss Engadine and the Upper Inn Valley are close by. The Resia Pass
is situated at the border where Austria, Italy and Switzerland meet. It
is
one of the major north-south Alpine routes and its specific location understandably influences the local population and their culture.
The mountain passes connecting the Swiss Engadine to South
Tyrol not only form part of the national boundary but also divide the
German speakers in the Val from the inhabitants of Grigioni, who speak
the Romansch language. Since the times of the Counter Reformation and as
late as in the 19th Century in some of the more remote valleys, Ladin
was still the dominant language in the Venosta Valley and many place
names are still in Rhaetian and even Celtic. These days, there is
considerable cooperation between the different cultural and linguistic
groups, such as the
Alpine Road of Romanesque Art which links rare archaeological and architectural structures on both sides of the border.