Mels

Mels is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the Seeztal, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

History

Mels is first mentioned in 765 as Maile though this comes from a later copy of the original document. In 1018 it was mentioned as Meilis.

Geography

Mels has an area, as of 2006, of 139.2 km2 (53.7 sq mi). Of this area, 42.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (25.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

The municipality is located in the Sarganserland Wahlkreis. In terms of area, it is the largest municipality in the canton and covers the Weisstannen valley and a part of the Seez valley. Northwest of town is Castels hill and west of the Nidberg is Castels fortress. It consists of the village of Mels, the settlements of Heiligkreuz bei Mels, Plons, Ragnatsch, the hamlets of Butz, St. Martin, Mädris and Tils, the alpine settlement of Vermol as well as the Walser villages of Schwendi and Weisstannen.

Chapfensee is a reservoir located in the municipality.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure two Keys Or in saltire.

Transportation

The municipality is located on the A3 motorway. The A3 national motorway ends at Mels; the portion north toward St. Margrethen and the portion east toward Landquart, Chur, San Bernardino and ultimately Bellinzona are all part of the A13 national motorway.

Heritage sites of national significance

Castels hill (which has been occupied from prehistory until the Middle Ages) and the early medieval church of St. Peter und Paul, are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 6,089 or 77.7% are Roman Catholic, while 625 or 8.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 7 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 144 individuals (or about 1.84% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 49 individuals (or about 0.63% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There is 1 individual who is Jewish, and 417 (or about 5.32% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 65 individuals (or about 0.83% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 228 (or about 2.91% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 212 individuals (or about 2.71% of the population) did not answer the question.

Trivia

Mels was one of the locations in the Swiss-Austrian film Akte Grüninger.