Cogne (, ; Issime wae, Kunji) 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 ...

'' (municipality) in

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 ...

, northern

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 ...

, with 1369 inhabitants, as of 2017.

Geography

Cogne is located in the valley with the same name along a stream known as the Torrent Grand Eyvia. It is the largest municipality in the

. Cogne is from

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, from

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

and 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 ...

. The town center of Cogne, called "Veulla" (meaning "town center" in the local Arpitan language), is surrounded by four valleys: * South: the Valnontey valley, which leads to the slopes of

Gran Paradiso , photo = Gran_Paradiso.jpg , photo_caption = The Gran Paradiso , elevation_m = 4061 , elevation_ref =Geoportale IGM owww.pcn.minambiente.it/ref> , prominence_m = 1879 , prominence_ref = , range = Graian Alps , parent_peak = , listing ...

; * North: the Grauson valley; * South-east, the Urtier valley and Valleille; * East, the Gimillan valley. A large meadow, known as the '' St Ursus Meadow'' ( It. ''Prati di Sant'Orso''; Fr. ''Prés de Saint-Ours''), is located at the southern edge of the town center
webcam
; the municipal statute forbids any construction works on this meadow, which has received recognition as a "Wonder of Italy".

History

The population of Cogne originates from the Arpitane valleys of the Piedmont region. In the past, economic relations, and trade routes were directed to these valleys, using muletracks and mountain passes, like the Rancio Pass or the Arietta Pass. The economic influence of the Aosta Valley is more recent. Until the 1970s, Cogne was an important mining center for the extraction of iron ore. The main mineral veins were exploited in the mines of Colonne, Licony e Larsinaz. The ore (mainly

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...

) was transported for processing to the Cogne steel plant in

using a narrow gauge railway. The mines were closed in 1979. Recent natural disasters that have hit the region include the flood of 1993 and that of October 15, 2000, when more than of rain fell in two days, causing inundations and landslides.

Sport

Cogne is an international center of cross country skiing and ice climbing, with of trails and 150 ice falls. There are also of downhill runs, many walks on the snow and more than 140 icefalls. During the summer, hiking and mountain biking are popular.Official tourism site
https://www.cogneturismo.it/datapage.asp?id=27&l=3

Main sights

*Ibex, wild goat, marmots, royal eagles are easy to see. Many walks and hikes of different level, to lakes, waterfalls and other natural attraction. * Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden, an alpine

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

Pont d'Aël The Pont d'Aël is a Roman aqueduct located in a village of the same name in the comune of Aymavilles in Aosta Valley, northern Italy. It was built in the year 3BC for irrigation purposes and supplying water for the newly founded colony of Au ...

, a Roman aqueduct, now foot bridge nearby crossing the Cogne Valley more than above the bottom

Crime

Cogne was the seat of the Cogne Homicide.

References

External links

{{authority control Cities and towns in Aosta Valley Ski areas and resorts in Italy