Monte Monega 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 ...

, in

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 ...

Geography

The mountain belongs to the

province of Imperia The Province of Imperia ( it, Provincia di Imperia, french: Province d'Imperia, Ligurian: ''Provinsa d’Imperia'') is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the L ...

, in

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. In 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'') it belongs to the ''Nodo del Monte Saccarello'' group and ''Costiera Monega- Carmo di Brocchi'' subgroup (

SOIUSA code SOIUSA code is the code used in the International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps (ISMSA or SOIUSA), a proposal by Italian Alpinist, Sergio Marazzi, to re-categorize the mountains and mountain ranges of the Alps. The proposal has bee ...

: I/A-1.II-A.1.b). Monte Monega is the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

where the valleys of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Giara di Rezzo The Giara di Rezzo is a stream (in Italian ''torrente'') of Liguria, Italy. Etymology The term ''giara'' is used in Western Liguria referring to creeks with large and gravelly beds; Rezzo is the main village of the middle valley of the ''Gi ...

and

Arroscia The Arroscia is an Italian river in the provinces of Imperia. and Savona. Geography The river rises from monte Frontè, in the comune of Mendatica, not far from the French border. The Arroscia flows east and receives several tributaries. It t ...

meet. Also the territories of three

comuni 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 ...

(

Montegrosso Pian Latte Montegrosso Pian Latte ( lij, Montegrosso Cian de Laite) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Geography As of 31 December 200 ...

Rezzo Rezzo ( lij, Ressu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Geography As of 31 December 2004, Rezzo had a population of 390 and ...

and

Molini di Triora Molini di Triora ( lij, Moin de Triêua) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 741 ...

) meet on the top of the mountain, which is marked by a

Summit cross A summit cross (german: Gipfelkreuz) is a cross on the summit of a mountain or hill that marks the top. Often there will be a summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or at least a weatherproof case. Various other form ...

. 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 92 metres.

History

The slopes of Monte Monega were deforested during past centuries in order to increase

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

land. The highest part of the mountain is still used as a

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

area for local cattle, and maintains a good amount of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Access to the summit

The summit of Monte Monega can be easily reached on foot starting from Colle del Garezzo (NW) or from

Passo della Teglia The Passo della Teglia (1385 m) is a mountain pass in the Province of Imperia (Italy). It connects Rezzo with Molini di Triora. Geography The pass stands between Monte Pizzo (1417 m, NW) and Monte Fenaira (1457 m, SE). It is located on t ...

(SW). The mountain in winter is a well known

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

s hike.

Conservation

The eastern side of the mountain since 2007 is included in the

Parco naturale regionale delle Alpi Liguri The Regional Natural Park of the Ligurian Alps (in Italian ''Parco Naturale Regionale delle Alpi Liguri'') is a natural park in Province of Imperia (Liguria, Italy). It was established in 2007 by the '' legge regionale'' nr.34 of 15/11/2007. Geo ...

.''Parco Naturale Regionale delle Alpi Liguri''
www.parks.it
/ref>

Maps

* Italian official maps by

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy. Overvie ...

(IGM), 1:25.000 and 1:100.000 scale (als
on line version
* ''Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scale 1:50.000'' nr. 15 ''Albenga, Alassio, Savona'', Istituto Geografico Centrale - Turin * ''Carta dei sentieri e stradale scala 1:25.000'' nr. 23 ''Sanremo Ventimiglia Bassa val Roia Val Nervia'', Fraternali editore - Ciriè

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monega monte One-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Liguria Mountains of the Ligurian Alps Province of Imperia