St. Moritz

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 village was named after Saint Maurice, an early Christian saint from southern Egypt said to have been martyred in the 3rd century by Maximian in Switzerland while serving as leader of the Theban Legion. Pilgrims traveled to Saint Mauritius, often to the church of the springs, where they drank from the blessed, bubbling waters of the Mauritius springs in the hopes of being healed. In 1519, the Medici pope Leo X promised full absolution to anyone making a pilgrimage to the church of the springs. In the 16th century, the first scientific treatises about the St. Moritz mineral springs were written. …

St. Moritz has an area (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 28.69 km2 (11.08 sq mi). Of this area, about 26.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 44.8% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of 160 ha (400 acres) or about 5.6% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of 23 ha (57 acres) over the 1985 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by 3 ha (7.4 acres) and is now about 1.15% of the total area. Of the agricultural land 149 ha (370 acres) is fields and grasslands, and 643 ha (1,590 acres) consists of alpine grazing areas. Since 1985 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by 37 ha (91 acres). Over the same time period the amount of forested land has increased by 33 ha (82 acres). …

Mentioned in the 1995 film Jumanji. Featured in the opening scenes of The Man Who Knew Too Much, a 1934 thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Mentioned in James Bond films: Goldfinger in 1964 and For Your Eyes Only in 1981. Ski scenes from James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and A View to a Kill were filmed at St. Moritz although attributed to other locations in the dialogue. Mentioned in the 1969 Peter Sarstedt hit Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?, describing a Euro jet-setter who flies to St. Moritz in winter. Mentioned in the popular 1990 romantic thriller novel Memories of Midnight, by Sidney Sheldon, as a ski-resort where the characters of Catherine Alexander and Kirk Reynolds go for vacation. Location of Kars' hideout in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency. Mentioned in the 2004 film The Prince & Me. …