Bocchetta Pass or Bochetta Pass or Passo della Bocchetta is a mountain

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

in the Ligurian

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

north of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

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 re ...

. The summit of the pass is at an elevation of 772 meters (2,532 feet).

Geography

It is crossed by a highway that connects Genoa and

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

. An old

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

ran through Bocchetta Pass from Genua (modern Genoa) to Dertona (modern

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

).''Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'', p. 59 The Bocchetta Pass is located about north of Genoa. From the south, the SP5 (Provincial) highway follows the

Polcevera valley Val Polcevera is one of the main valleys crossing Genoa, taking its name from the eponymous river. It is one of two valleys bordering the historic core of the city, along with Val Bisagno Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an A ...

north from the town of

Campomorone Campomorone ( lij, Campomon) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about north of Genoa. Campomorone borders the following municipalities: Bosio, Ceranesi, Fraconalto, Genoa, Migna ...

. From the north, the SP160 highway approaches the pass along the Lemme valley via the towns of

Gavi GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...

and

Voltaggio Voltaggio (Ottaggio in Ligurian) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Located there is a Roman bridge on the Lemme st ...

. Currently, most traffic uses the Autostrada A7 which runs through the mountains to the east.

Hiking

The pass is also accessible by off-road mountain paths and is crossed by the ''

Alta Via dei Monti Liguri The ''Alta Via dei Monti Liguri'' (AV, literally "High Route of the Ligurian Mountains") is a long-distance waymarked hiking trail in the Italian region of Liguria. In about and 44 day hikes, it runs through the arc formed by Ligurian Alps ...

'', a long-distance trail from

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label=Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

(province of

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Muss ...

) to

Bolano Bolano ( lij, Bolan) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of La Spezia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa and about northeast of La Spezia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,490 and an are ...

(province of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

History

The Roman consul

Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus was a politician of ancient Rome, of patrician rank, during the 2nd century BC. He was consul in 148 BC, in which year a great fire happened at Rome. It is this Spurius Albinus of whom Cicero speaks in the ''Brut ...

had the

Via Postumia The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus. It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia (the termination of the Via Aemil ...

built in 148 BC. The Roman road connected Genoa with

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, and

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

. At

Calvatone Calvatone ( lmo, Calvatòon) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona, Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about east of Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''c ...

(known as Bedriacum in Roman times) the road forked and the northern branch went to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

while the southern branch went to

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. During the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

the Bocchetta Pass was located in territory belonging to the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

. Its north side was guarded by the fortress of Gavi.

Notes

References

*''Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1997. . Mountain passes of Liguria Mountain passes of Piedmont Mountain passes of the Apennines {{Liguria-geo-stub

Geography

Hiking

History

See also

Notes

References