Piazza_Cavour,_Kuerc_e_Torre_della_Bajona

Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

region of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

. The centre of the upper

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Toda ...

valley, it is a popular

winter sport Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...

s resort. It was the site of the

Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annuall ...

in 1985 and 2005, and annually hosts the

Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

. In addition to modern skiing facilities, the town is noted for the presence of several hot springs that have been tapped to provide water to three

thermal bath A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

Geography

Bormio lies in the northeast of the

region at the top of the Valtellina, a broad

glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

formed by the Adda River that flows down into

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

. It is linked to other valleys via four passes: *

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

via the

Stelvio Pass The Stelvio Pass ( it, Passo dello Stelvio , ''Giogo dello Stelvio'' ; german: Stilfser Joch; ) is a mountain pass in Northern Italy, northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of Height above mean sea level, above sea level. It is the L ...

Val Müstair Val Müstair (german: Münstertal) is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It was formed on 1 January 2009 through the merger of Tschierv, Fuldera, Lü, Valchava, Santa Maria Val Mü ...

via the

Umbrail Pass Umbrail Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass on the Swiss-Italian border connecting Santa Maria in Val Müstair with Bormio in the Adda valley. On the Italian side, it connects to the Stelvio Pass road and the Valtellina. It is currently the hig ...

Livigno Livigno (; local lmo, Livígn ; german: Luwin) is a town, ''comune'' and a special-administered territory in the province of Sondrio, in the region of Lombardy, Italy, located in the Italian Alps, near the Swiss border. History Livigno's firs ...

via the

Foscagno Pass Foscagno Pass ( it, Passo di Foscagno, rm, Pass da Fus-chagn) (el. 2291 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the province of Sondrio, northern Italy. The road (SS 301) connects Bormio in the east and Livigno in the west. It is the only l ...

Ponte di Legno Ponte di Legno ( Camunian: ) is an Italian ''comune'' of 1,729 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy. Geography Situated at the confluence of the two source rivers of the Oglio, Ponte di Legno is the uppermost comune of V ...

via the

Gavia Pass Gavia Pass ( it, Passo di Gavia) (el. 2621 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alps. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps. The pass lies in the Lombardy region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the ...

History

Due to its thermal baths at ''Bagni Vecchi'', ''Bagni Nuovi'' and ''Terme di Bormio'', Bormio has long been a tourist attraction. Members of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

aristocracy already travelled to Bormio in order to enjoy warm baths in the mountainous scenery. Most of these thermal baths are still in use today. The town is centred on the historic Piazza Cavour and Via Roma, a historic main trading point on the route from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Bormio retains its unique

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

town centre, attracting many tourists, mainly Italian, from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and other cities. It will host alpine skiing in the

2026 Winter Olympics ) , nations = , athletes = , events = 116 in 8 sports , opening = 6 February 2026 , closing = 22 February 2026 , opened_by = , cauldron = , stadium = San Siro Verona Arena , wint ...

Alpine skiing

The village hosted the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annua ...

twice, in 1985 and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, both cohosted with

Santa Caterina di Valfurva Santa Caterina di Valfurva is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Valfurva, in the northern Italy, Italian province of Sondrio. It is home to a popular ski resort, which has held numerous FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, FIS World Cup Alpine skiing, alpi ...

. There are of marked ski runs, the longest run of which is , served by fifteen lifts and several ski schools. Bormio is a regular stop on the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

circuit, usually with a men's

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

in late December. The Pista Stelvio, named after

, is one of the most challenging downhill courses in the world; it is second-longest on the World Cup circuit, behind only the

Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. Lauberhorn ski races The mountain is best known for the ...

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

. For the World Cup race in December

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, the Stelvio started at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of , with a vertical drop of and course length of . The winning time of Italian

Dominik Paris Dominik Paris (born 14 April 1989) is an Italian alpine ski racer, who specializes in speed events of downhill and super-G. He was the world champion in super-G, as the gold medalist in 2019 at Åre, Sweden. Racing career Paris ...

was just under two yielding an average speed of and a vertical descent rate of over per second.

Main sights

* Giardino Botanico Alpino "Rezia"

People

* The Olympic skiing brothers Erminio, Giacinto and

Stefano Sertorelli Stefano Sertorelli (24 December 1911 – 17 December 1994) was an Italian soldier and skier. Biography Sertorello, son of Cantoniere Costante Sertorelli (d. 1922) and his wife Maria (1880–1956) was born in Bormio, Lombardy. The family was ...

were born in Bormio. * The head coach of the Italian national ski team in 1970–1976,

Oreste Peccedi ''Oreste'' ("Orestes", HWV A11, Händel-Gesellschaft, HG 48/102) is an opera by George Frideric Handel in three Act (theater), acts. The libretto was anonymously adapted from Giangualberto Barlocci’s ''L’Oreste'' (1723, Rome), which was in tu ...

, was born and resides. * The Italian ski mountaineers Francesca Martinelli and

Roberta Pedranzini Roberta Pedranzini (born 21 August 1971) is an Italian ski mountaineer. Pedranzini was born in Bormio. She started ski mountaineering in 2000 and competed first in the ''Giro del Monviso'' race in 2003. She has been member of the Italian nationa ...

were born in Bormio. * The 6 times world champion runner

Marco De Gasperi Marco De Gasperi (born 5 April 1977) is an Italian male mountain runner, sky runner and long-distance runner. Biography He won five gold medals at senior level (from 1997 to 2007) and one at junior level (1996), at the World Mountain Running Cha ...

was born in Bormio.

Twin cities and towns

Bormio is twinned with: *

Huez Huez () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. The mountain resort Alpe d'Huez is located in the commune. L'Alpe d'Huez is often an ascent on the Tour de France. Population Twin towns Huez is twinned with: * Bormio ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since 2005. *

Qakh Qakh District ( az, Qax rayonu; ka, კახის რაიონი, K′akhis raioni; Tsakhur: Къахын район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala E ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, since 2014. *

Bellpuig Bellpuig () is a town in the ''comarca'' (county) of l'Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. Nowadays Bellpuig is the third most important town in the area of Urgell. The town, located between the three little hills appearing in the flag, is served by Be ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References

External links

Bormio onlineBormio.itBormio3.itTherme in BormioCollection of videos of skiing in BormioSci Club BormioOfficial Site of the Ski AreasOfficial Site of the Bormio Tourist OfficeAlta Valtellina TourismAlta Rezia News Paper onlineBormio ski resort guide, news&events...
{{authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy Ski areas and resorts in Italy Spa towns in Italy Venues of the 2026 Winter Olympics