St Moritz, Switzerland

St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubunden. The highest summit in the Eastern Alps, the Piz Bernina, lies a few kilometres south of the town.

St. Moritz hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948. It is a popular destination of the upper class and international jet set, as well as one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world.

Votive offerings, swords and needles from the Bronze Age found at the base of the springs in St. Moritz indicate that the Celts had already discovered them.

St. Moritz is first mentioned around 1137-39 as ad sanctum Mauricium. The town was named after Saint Maurice, an early Christian saint from southern Egypt said to have been martyred in 3rd century Roman Switzerland while serving as leader of the Theban Legion.

Since the early 1980s St. Moritz is also promoted and known as Top of the World. The expression was registered as a trademark by the tourist office in 1987.

St. Moritz is extremely popular in the summer months as an altitude training base for distance athletes, particularly cyclists, runners and race walkers. Its popularity extends to the altitude, weather, world class athletics track and availability of paths and trails in the area.

In addition to the above sports, St. Moritz is also well known as a destination for sailing. It is the host venue for the annual St. Moritz Match Race held on lake St. Moritz. The St. Moritz Match Race event is part of the prestigious World Match Racing Tour which covers 3 continents. The event draws the world's best sailing teams to St. Moritz in a gladiatorial battle of nerve and skill on the water.

Thanks to its favorable location, St. Moritz enjoys over 300 days of sunshine a year. Every winter it hosts the "White Turf" horse race on the frozen Lake St. Moritz attended by the international pper class.

Popular pastimes include skiing, snowboarding, hiking and nearby there is also the world famous Cresta Run toboggan course.

The year-round population is 5600, with some 3000 seasonal employees supporting hotels and rental units with a total of 13,000 beds and hosted the 2003 world championships for skiing.

St Moritz has an Alpine climate climate with cold, moderately snowy winters and mild, wet summers.

Cruises generally commence in late Spring (April/May) and the season ends in September. The shorter season reflects the more northerly latitude of the region, however daily temperatures through the region are generally a pleasant 20c/70f through summer and can rise to the mid to high 20's. April and September are cooler. This is a relatively low rain period with about 8 to 10 days of rain per month.

General Information

Population: 5,149 (2013)
Language: The four national languages of Switzerland are
German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Currency: Swiss francs (CHF)
Time Zone: UTC/GMT +2 hours
Dial Code: +41
Postal Code: 7500