Ilanz

Ilanz (Glion) is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The former municipality of Ilanz was congruent with the town of Ilanz. On 1 January 1978, the former municipality of Strada merged into the new municipality of Ilanz. On 1 January 2014, the municipality of Ilanz and the surrounding municipalities Castrisch, Ladir, Luven, Pitasch, Riein, Ruschein, Schnaus, Sevgein, Duvin, Pigniu, Rueun and Siat merged into the new municipality of Ilanz/Glion. Ilanz is first mentioned in 765 as "Iliande." Ilanz became the capital of the newly formed Grey League in 1395. The Grey League was the second of the Three Leagues which eventually formed canton Graubünden. Johannes von Ilanz, the Abbot of Disentis, was among the three nobles instrumental in creating this "eternal alliance." Ilanz has a special place in the history of the Protestant Reformation. In the 1520s, the Diet of Ilanz declared that citizens of the Three Leagues should be free to choose between Catholicism and the Protestant forms of Christianity then rising to the fore. These and other events resulted in a counter-reformation within the Swiss Confederation that reversed many of the gains of the Reformation in Switzerland. The town of Ilanz has a total area of . Of this area, 24.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 50.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 18.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (5.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). It is located in the Ilanz sub-district of the Surselva district. It is the first town on the Rhine; the Rhine headwaters gather here to become the valley of the Vorderrhein. Illanz is the market town for the surrounding area. It is also the nearest major town to the Weisse Arena ski resort situated just further up the valley. In Ilanz are the major train station, supermarket, and nearest hospital of the area. The town is situated at a fork of the Surselva and the Vrin/Vals valley, which is split by Piz Mundaun.