The Monte Camulera (or ''Bric Camulera'', 1.224 m.) is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

of the '' Ligurian Prealps'', the eastern section 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 ...

Features

The mountain belongs to 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 ...

Murialdo Murialdo ( lij, Moriaodo; pms, Muriaud) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about west of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 882 and an area ...

and stands on the water divide between Bormida di Millesimo and Osiglietta valleys. The ridge branches from the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest ...

close to

Monte Settepani Monte Settepani is 1,386 metres high mountain in Liguria, northern Italy, part of the Ligurian Prealps. Geography The mountain is located on the main chain of the Alps and its summit stands very close the water divide between Ligurian Sea a ...

and, after Monte Camulera, ends at the confluence between Bormida and Osiglietta.. The mountain slopes are shrouded by woods mainly of

broad-leaved tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

s, but its topo is partially free of arboreal vegetation and offers an interesting panorama. Its

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

is of 135 metres. The summit is marked by a summit cross with a

summit register A summit book or summit register is a record of visitors to the summit of a mountain. It is usually enclosed in a weatherproof, animalproof metal canister. Some books are maintained in an informal manner by an individual or small group, while ot ...

in a metal box fixed to its base.

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 = Prealpi Liguri * supergroup = Catena Settepani-Carmo-Armetta, group = Gruppo del Monte Settepani, subgroup = Costiera del Monte Settepani, code = I/A-1.I-A.1.b

Geology

A well known geological feature of Monte Camulera is porphyryc

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

lens wedged in a matrix of ''besimaudite'', an

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...

typical of the surrounding area. This rocky outcrop, roughly round-shaped, has been interpreted as the intersection of an ancient

volcanic pipe Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of ''diatreme''. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone o ...

with the present-day earth surface.

History

A stone plaque in memory of five fallen partisans is located not faraway from the summit of the mountain, on the slopes facing Bormida di Millesimo valley. In November 29 of 1944 Angelo Bevilacqua, Actis Grande Stelio, Giacomo Pesce, Vincenzo Girello, Roberto De Cicco e Marino Risaliti were captured by fascist troops of the '' Black Brigades''. After being interrogated and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

d they were shot dead by a firing squad on the spot. Their corpses were retrieved by inhabitants of the area and are now buried in the Zinola graveyard ( Savona). Veteran associations use to organize visits to the memorial and other initiatives to remember the fallen partisans.

Access to the summit

The summit of monte Camulera can be easily attained by footpath. Different ways star from some village in the municipality of

Osiglia Osiglia ( Ligurian and pms, Oseria) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about west of Savona. Osiglia borders the following municipalities: Bormida, Calizzano ...

,.. In one and a half hours' walk the mountain can also be reached from Riofreddo, a village in the municipality of

, or also, with a longer hike, from the centre of the municipality.

Nature conservation

The mountain is included into the ''Area protetta Provinciale Monte Camulera'', a nature protected area established by the

Provincia di Savona The province of Savona ( it, provincia di Savona; Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a total population ...

, encompassing 490 ha.

References

Bibliography

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Maps

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camulera monte One-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Liguria Mountains of the Ligurian Alps Province of Savona