The Matter Valley (German: Mattertal, or sometimes ''Nikolaital'') is located in southwestern Switzerland, 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 26 cantons forming the S ...

. 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 th ...

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, a tributary of the Rhone. The valley itself ends at Stalden where it meets the Saas Valley. The resulting Visp Valley continues for a few kilometres until it reaches the town of Visp on the young river Rhone. The valley starts between the high summits south of

( Monte Rosa,

) 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 ...

. 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, ...

, the Gorner Glacier lies at the foot of Monte Rosa (4,634 m), while the

Zmutt Glacier The Zmutt Glacier (german: Zmuttgletscher) is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . See also *List of glaciers in Switzerland *List of glaciers *Retreat of glacie ...

lies at the foot of the Matterhorn (4,478 m). Around the village of

Randa Randa may refer to: *Jrarrat, Kotayk, Armenia, formerly ''Randa'' *Randa, Djibouti *Randa, Switzerland *Randa, Mallorca *Randa rockslides of 1991 (Switzerland) *Randa Accessories, an American company *Puig de Randa, a summit in the Balearic Islands ...

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 Va ...

(4,505 m) and the Dom (4,545 m). The difference of height between the talweg 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 :''See Saint Nicholas (disambiguation) for disambiguation.'' St. Niklaus (french: Saint-Nicolas) is a village and a municipality in the Mattertal, part of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History St. Niklaus is first ...

follows with 2,400 inhabitants. Between them are located the smaller villages of Täsch and

. The villages of Grächen, Embd and Törbel 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 Visp ( Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn). 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 St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

by the Glacier Express panoramic train.

References

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal ...

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