The Tamina is a river in the south of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, running close to the border to the canton of Grisons. It has a length of almost 29 km, flowing through the Tamina Valley, of which Tamina Gorge (Taminaschlucht) is an impressiv part, before it enters the Rhine as a left tributary.

Course

The river starts below the Sardona Pass (2758 m) and between the Surenstock (3057 m) and the Trinserhorn (3028 m) of the Glarus Alps. Within its first half, the river flows eastwards through the valley Calfeisen and the reservoir Lake Gigerwald (Gigerwaldsee) until it reaches Vättis at 943 m, where it is joined by the Gorbsbach and where it turns sharply towards the northeast. Further below, the Tamina flows into the Mapraggsee. The lower section, heading northwards through Pfäfers, forms a deep and narrow gorge called the Taminaschlucht. The river then flows through Bad Ragaz before it finally merges with the Alpine Rhine.

Tamina Gorge

Between Valens and the hamlet of Bonadivis, the water of the Tamina digs up to 200 m into the ground. Over the last 15,000 years, the small river has eaten its way into the rock and, between Valens and Ragol, it is sometimes even completely covered by natural bridges. The narrow crevice is around 750 m long and 70 m deep. The gorge, which is accissible by a pedestrian bridge, also contains a hot spring used for a spa. At Pfäfers, the gorge widens so much that for the last 4 km there is also space for a single-lane road next to the river, which since 1838 connects Bad Ragaz with Altes Bad Pfäfers (a former spa and hotel, now a museum and restaurant). The road is closed to cars, but a bus operates on it. There are two hypotheses about the origin of the Tamina Gorge: In the upper part of the Tamina Gorge there is a hot spring, pumping out 8,000 l of water per minute with a temperature of 36.6 °C. Discovered in 1240, it was used on site and later in Altes Bad Pfäfers between the years 1350 and 1969, and since then it is used in the Valens medical clinic and the spa in Bad Ragaz.

History

Historically, the Tamina Valley (Taminatal, also Vättnertal) was owned by the Pfäfers Abbey, joined to the canton of St. Gallen at its formation in 1803.