Entracque is a small town in the

Valle Gesso Valle Gesso is a valley in the Maritime Alps (south-western Alps), located in the Italian province of Cuneo and crossed by the Gesso torrent. The language spoken by the inhabitants belongs to the Occitan language family. Geography The valley is ...

of the

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps (french: Alpes Maritimes ; it, Alpi Marittime ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy ...

of north-west

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 ...

, about southwest of

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

and close to the French border. It is the principal settlement and ''

capoluogo 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 ...

'' of the

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 ...

or municipality of the same name (population 855) in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

ese

Province of Cuneo Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...

. At the time of the 2001 census over 90 percent of the then 848 inhabitants of the comune were found in Entracque itself. The remaining 68 were dispersed among 11 hamlets, none of which had more than 13 inhabitants, or lived in isolated dwellings. Entracque borders the following municipalities:

Belvédère Belvédère (; oc, Barver; it, Belvedere) is a commune in the Vésubie valley north of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. The village of Belvédère is located at the entrance of the Gordolasque valley on the edge ...

(France),

La Brigue La Brigue (; lij, Briga; oc, La Briga; it, Briga Marittima) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. La Brigue became part of France after World War II, when Italy was forced to hand it over in September 1947 u ...

(France),

Limone Piemonte Limone Piemonte (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Limon'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about south of Cuneo, on the border with France. As of September 2017, it had a po ...

Roaschia Roaschia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southwest of Cuneo. Roaschia borders the following municipalities: Entracque, Robilante, Roccavione, Valdie ...

Saint-Martin-Vésubie Saint-Martin-Vésubie (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Sant Martin de Lantosca'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southe ...

(France),

Valdieri Valdieri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about southwest of Cuneo, on the border with France. It is part of the Valle Gesso. Valdieri borders the follow ...

, and

Vernante Vernante is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about south of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,307 and an area of .All demographics and othe ...

. The ''comune'' is the site of the

Entracque Power Plant The Entracque Power Plant, also known as The Upper Gesso Plant, is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station located in Valle Gesso just south of Entracque, Italy. The power station contains pump-generators for two co-located but hydraulically ...

, one of the biggest hydroelectric power stations in Italy.

Tourism

Entracque started to be a mountain touristic resort in the late 19th century, when the house of Savoy used the valley as a game reserve. Today Entracque addresses both winter and summer tourism. It has one of the biggest Italian cross ski areas and also has two lifts for alpine skiing.

Natural Park of the Maritime Alps

The village is also part of the ''Parco Naturale delle Alpi Marittime'' (Natural Park of the Maritime Alps). It is one of the few pan-European parks (the French side is the National Park of Mercantour).

Monte Argentera Monte Argentera is a mountain in the Maritime Alps, in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the range. The peak is located in the upper Valle Gesso, on the boundary between the munic ...

, the highest peak in the

, is located in the municipal territory.

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Piedmont {{Cuneo-geo-stub