The Matter Valley (German: Mattertal, or sometimes ''Nikolaital'') is located in southwestern

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 ...

, south of the Rhone valley in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. The village of

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

is the most important settlement of the valley, which is surrounded by many four-thousanders, including the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

Geography

Located in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ( ...

, the Matter Valley is drained by the

Matter Vispa The Vispa is a river in the canton of Valais, located in the Visp area. It is essentially composed of two large branches: the Matter Vispa and the Saaser Vispa, converging at Stalden, then forming the Vispa proper, flowing for less than before ...

, a tributary of the Rhone. The valley itself ends at Stalden where it meets the

Saas Valley The Saastal or the Saas Valley is an alpine valley in the district of Visp, in the eastern part of the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the valley of the river Saaser Vispa. It is separated from the Mattertal to the west by the Mischabel ...

. The resulting

Visp Valley The Vispa is a river in the canton of Valais, located in the Visp area. It is essentially composed of two large branches: the Matter Vispa and the Saaser Vispa, converging at Stalden, then forming the Vispa proper, flowing for less than before c ...

continues for a few kilometres until it reaches the town of

Visp Visp (french: Viège) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Geography Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis. Visp has an area, , of . Of ...

on the young river Rhone. The valley starts between the high summits south of

(

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

) on the border with

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 upper side is glaciated, the second largest glacier 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 ...

, the

Gorner Glacier The Gorner Glacier (german: Gornergletscher) is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier rela ...

lies at the foot of Monte Rosa (4,634 m), while the Zmutt Glacier lies at the foot of the Matterhorn (4,478 m). Around the village of Randa are located the

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Val ...

(4,505 m) and the

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

(4,545 m). The difference of height between the

talweg In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the boun ...

and the summits on both side reaches over 3 km. The total length of the valley is about 40 km.

Settlements

(1,600 m), with approx. 5,600 inhabitants, is the largest and highest town in the valley. St. Niklaus follows with 2,400 inhabitants. Between them are located the smaller villages of

Täsch Täsch is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is located about north of Zermatt. The local language is Swiss German. History Täsch is first mentioned in 1302 as ''Tech''. In Latin it was known as ...

and Randa. The villages of

Grächen Grächen is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated at an altitude of on a terrace above St. Niklaus in the Mattertal, north of the Mischabel range (and Dom). History Settlements i ...

Embd Embd is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Embd is first mentioned in 1250 as ''Emeda''. In 1330 it was mentioned as ''Embda'' and ''Emda''. Geography Embd has an area, , of . Of this area, ...

and

Törbel Törbel is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The highest point is the peak of the Augstbordhorns at . History Törbel is first mentioned in 1034 as ''Dorbia''. Geography Törbel has an area, , of . O ...

are located above the valley. Stalden, located at the end of the valley, is the lowest village (800 m).

Transport

Since the end of the nineteenth century the upper end of the valley is connected by rail from

(

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is a narrow gauge railway line and a railway company (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG, MGB) in Switzerland. The track width is . It was created in 2003 through an amalgamation of Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) and BVZ Zermatt- ...

). If the main road connect Zermatt from Visp, it cannot be used between Täsch and Zermatt, the latter being completely car-free. Since 1930 the valley is directly connected to St. Moritz by the

Glacier Express The Glacier Express (GEX) is a direct train connecting railway stations of the two major mountain resorts of Zermatt and St. Moritz via Andermatt in the central Swiss Alps. The train is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train ...

panoramic train.

References

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German language, German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French language, French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian language, Italian: ''Ufficio fed ...

maps {{Authority control Landforms of Valais Valleys of the Alps Valleys of Switzerland