The Monte Antoroto is a mountain of the

Ligurian Alps The Ligurian Alps are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. A small part is located in France. They form the south-western extremity of the Alps, separated from the Apennines by the Colle di Cadibona. The Col de Tende and the Vermenagna valley ...

located in

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

(NW

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 ...

Geography

The mountain is located on the watershed between the upper Valley of

Tanaro The Tanaro (; pms, Tane ; ; la, Tanarus), is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of dra ...

and the Casotto valley. The Colla Bassa saddle (1,851 m) divides it from Monte Grosso (East), while westwards the ridge goes on with Cima Ciuaiera (2,175 m) and Colla dei Termini. Close to the summit of the Monte Antoroto stands a rounded and grassy subsummit, some metres lower than the main summit. Monte Antoroto da Valdinferno

The mountain is mainly made of sedimentary

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, as usual in the

. Monte Antoroto is clearly visible from Valdinferno (

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 ...

Garessio Garessio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southeast of Cuneo. The former Savoy family palace, the Reggia di Val Casotto is located within the town li ...

) and from

Ormea Ormea is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about southeast of Cuneo. Ormea borders the following municipalities: Alto, Armo, Briga Alta, Caprauna, Cosio di ...

, which stands at the feet of its overhanging southern cliffs.

SOIUSA classification

According to the

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designe ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain can be classified in the following way: * main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzerland ( ...

* major sector = South Western Alps * section =

* subsection = It:Alpi del Marguareis/ Fr:Alpes Liguriennes Occidentales * supergroup = It:Catena Marguareis-Mongioie/ Fr:Chaîne Marguareis-Mongioie * group = It:Gruppo Pizzo d'Ormea-Monte Antoroto * subgroup = It:Costiera Bric di Conolia-Pizzo d'Ormea * code = I/A-1.II-B.5.a

Nature conservation

The Monte Antoroto belongs to a S.C.I. also named ''Monte Antoroto '' (cod. IT1160035), whose specific conservation rules were approved by the

Regione Piemonte The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

in 2016.

Access to the summit

The Monte Antoroto can be reached from Valcasotto following a waymarked foothpath with a vertical climb of about 1,200 m. A slightly shorter hiking itinerary starts from Valdinferno, a village belonging to the

. The summit offers a very broad view on

and Ligurian Apennine. In good weather conditions also on the

Ligurian sea The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient ...

and Golfo di Genova can be seen behind the Ligurian Prealps ( Armetta-

Galero A (plural: ; from la, galērum, originally connotating a helmet made of skins; cf. '' galea'') is a broad-brimmed hat with tasselated strings which was worn by clergy in the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, the red ''galero'' was restricte ...

ridge).

Mountain huts

* Rifugio Angelo Manolino * Rifugio Savona, near Valdinferno.

Maps

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoroto Mountains of the Ligurian Alps Mountains of Piedmont Two-thousanders of Italy