St. Moritz

Coordinates: 46°30′N, 9°50′E

St. Moritz
Country Switzerland Canton Grisons District Maloja 46°30′N, 9°50′E
Population	5,121  (December 2005)
- Density	178 /km² (69 /sq.mi.)
Area	28.69 km² (11.1 sq mi)
Elevation	1,822 m (5,978 ft)
Postal code	7500
SFOS number	3787
Surrounded by (view map)	Bever, Celerina/Schlarigna, Samedan, Silvaplana
Twin towns	Bariloche (Argentina), Kutchan (Japan), Vail (USA)
Website	www.stmoritz.ch
St. Moritz [zoom]

St. Moritz (German: Sankt Moritz, Romansh: San Murezzan) is an exclusive resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. St. Moritz is considered the oldest winter resort in the world. Due to its favorable location residents enjoy over 300 days of sunshine a year. Every winter this alpine village hosts the "White Turf" horse race on the frozen Lake St. Moritz attended by the international Upper class. The official languages are Romansh and German.

St. Moritz with Lake St. Moritz

Popular pastimes include skiing and 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.

St. Moritz

St. Moritz has been the host city for the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics. It also hosted the 1934, 1974 and 2003 Alpine Skiing World Championships. It is one of three cities that have hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice, the others being Innsbruck, Austria and Lake Placid, New York in the United States.

Common tourist St. Moritz attractions include:

• The Segantini Museum: dedicated to Giovanni Segantini, a painter that lived the last 5 years of his life in Engadine painting "nature, life, death".
• The Olympic bobsled run: a very rare natural bob sleigh. It is typically up and running by late December each year
• Viewing the glacier landscape: there are a number of notable vistas. Much can be seen by descending from Diavolezza to the Morteratsch Glacier.

In popular culture

• St. Moritz was mentioned in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger as a skiing resort. Also mentioned in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
• St. Moritz is mentioned in the song Where do you go to my lovely by Peter Sarstedt and the song I Wouldn't Dream Of It by the New Zealand band Split Enz.
• St. Moritz is also a brand of menthol cigarettes distributed by British American Tobacco.

See also

• Glacier Express
• Badrutt's Palace Hotel

External links

• http://www.stmoritz.ch Official website
• http://www.stmoritz-gemeinde.ch (German) (French) (Italian) (Romansh) Municipality
• St. Moritz in Romansh, German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Municipalities in the district of Maloja, Switzerland
Bever | Bondo | Castasegna | Celerina/Schlarigna | Madulain | Pontresina | La Punt-Chamues-ch | Samedan | Soglio | St. Moritz | Stampa | S-chanf | Sils im Engadin/Segl | Silvaplana | Vicosoprano | Zuoz
Graubünden | Districts of Canton Graubünden | Municipalities of the canton of Graubünden