Becca di Nona (french: Pic de Nona) is a peak in the

Graian Alps , it, Alpi Graie , photo = , photo_caption = , country_type = Countries , country = , subdivision1_type = Provinces/Regions , subdivision1 = , parent = Alps , borders_on = ...

of the

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

in north-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Together with

Monte Emilius Monte Emilius (french: Mont Émilius) (3,559 m) is a mountain of the Graian Alps in Aosta Valley, north-western Italy. Located just above the town of Aosta, from where it is visible looking southwards behind the lower Becca di Nona, it is u ...

, it is one of the main mountains visible from

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

looking southwards.

History

This mountain was known in the past as ''Pic de douze heures'', that is to say "12 p.m. peak" in French, as the sun stands right on top of it at noon. In 1857, the Aostan doctor

Laurent Cerise Laurent Alexis Philibert Cerise (27 February 1807 – 5 October 1869) was a French physician born in Aosta (today part of Italy). He studied medicine at the University of Turin, obtaining his doctorate in 1828. In 1831 he relocated to Paris, whe ...

nominated it ''Pic Carrel'', to dedicate it to Valdotainian prior Georges Carrel, but his proposal was not accepted. The hagiography of

St Anselm Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of th ...

written by his chaplain

Eadmer Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum in ...

records that, when he was a child, he had a mystical vision of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and his court on the mountain.

Sports

At the top is a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

statue of St. Mary. Every year a running race, the ''Becca di Nona Skyrace'' or ''Skyrace Ville d'Aoste'', is organized starting from Émile Chanoux square in Aosta, arriving to the peak and returning to the city.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Aosta Valley {{Aosta-geo-stub