Agaro, Ausone and Esigo are among the oldest Walser colonies in the Alps. The etymology of the names of the inhabitants of these localities suggests that the populations originated from Binn, in the near Valais, from which in the thirteenth century they reached the Antigorio Valley through the Arbola Pass.
The Walser began to colonize small tracts of land set among the peaks of the Alps and protected by woods. Here they built the typical houses and barns in stone and larch wood, still today works admired by tourists and hikers.
In the harsh environment of the high mountains the Walser developed, despite the difficult conditions, particular pastoral and cultivation techniques. In this way the Walser could obtain a good production of potatoes, rye and barley.This population developed technologies to exploit and channel the waters of glaciers,to defend themselves from avalanches, to build roads and overcome the rugged mountain gorges.
Among the most fascinating stories of the territory, the one about the small village of Agaro.Agaro was abandoned by its inhabitants and submerged by the waters in 1938,when the Edison company decided to build the imposing dam. The Agaro dam, along with many others artificial lakes today punctuate these alpine pastures – for the production of electricity.
