Monte Musinè or simply Musinè (in Piedmontese mont Musinè) is a mountain in the Graian Alps in the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin ( it, Città metropolitana di Torino, Piedmontese: ''Sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a metropolitan city in the Piedmont region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the Province of Turin and co ...

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

north Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

. Musinè is well known for the high cross on its peak, as well as for being the mountain closest to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. It is visible from the Piedmontese plateau and from the mountains in the provinces of Biella and

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

Geography

pan burcina serra musinè monti piossasco da monte casto

Mount Musinè is the easternmost mountain of the long ridge which, starting from Rocciamelone, divides the valleys of

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

and Lanzo. Its main summit has a subsummit called ''Truc dell'Eremita'' (''Hermit's hill'', 1.101 m), and is surrounded by several minor hills. To the east on a 535 m high hill stands Saint Abaco's sanctuary, and to the northeast on Monte Calvo, 551 m high, there is a Via Crucis leading to a chapel. Mount Musinè is connected to the neighbouring Mount Curto (1.323 m) by a broad wooded ridge, the lowest point of which is the

Colle della Bassetta Colle or Collé (French word meaning "glue", Italian word meaning "hill") may refer to: Places Canada * Lacolle, municipality in the Quebec province France *La Colle-sur-Loup, municipality in the Alpes-Maritimes department Italy ;Municipalitie ...

(''Bassetta's pass'', 945 m). Mount Musinè's summit is a

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 ...

at which the borders of the municipalities of

Caselette Caselette is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It is located at the entrance of the Val di Susa, from Turin, at the foot of Monte Musinè. It is home to the Castle of the Cays Co ...

Almese Almese (Piedmontese: ''Almèis'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located in the lower Val di Susa The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val ...

and

Val della Torre Val della Torre is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northwest of Turin. It is situated in the Graian Alps. The Monte Colombano Monte Colombano (in Piedmontese mont Col ...

meet.

SOIUSA classification

According to

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'') Mount Musinè can be classified in the following way: * main part = Western Alps * major sector = North Western Alps * section = Graian Alps * subsection = Southern Graian Alps * supergroup = catena Rocciamelone-Charbonel * group = gruppo del Rocciamelone * subgroup = cresta Lunella-Arpone *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

= I/B-7.I-A.2.b

History

A number of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

and

protohistoric Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

archaeological sites have been discovered in the area. These include traces of a hut dating to the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(ca 1700 BC) found in

, and several finds from the late

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

in the vicinity of

(Truc Randolera). Two

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

buildings from the imperial period are located near the mountain: a ''

villa rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...

'' in Caselette and a large residential

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

in Almese (Grange di Rivera). A local tradition states that it was near Mount Musinè (and therefore not during the

Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the pa ...

) that the emperor

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

saw a flaming cross and the words '' In hoc signo vinces'' shortly before the Battle of Turin (312) against his rival

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

, which he won. In 1901 a 15 m high cross Aldo Molino, ''Musiné Monte del mistero'', article on ''

Piemonte Parchi ''Piemonte Parchi'' ('Piedmont Parks') is an Italian magazine devoted to nature parks and life sciences. It is published since 1983 in Turin (Italy) by the Piedmont Regional Government. History and profile ''Piemonte Parchi'' was the first m ...

'' n.128 June/July 2003, pag.46-47 was built on the top of the mountain using

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

. On the northeastern slopes of Mount Musinè several

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula (magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ro ...

quarries were active between 1875 and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

UFO sightings

Several

encounters Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar * ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film * ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film * ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film *E ...

with

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s have been reported around the mountain from the 1970s onward. Quite well known is the case of December 8, 1978, when two young hikers walking on the slopes of the Musinè saw a bright light; one of them, after approaching it, temporarily disappeared. His mate, with the help of some passers-by, searched for him and after a while found his friend in a state of shock and with a noticeable

scald The structured computer-aided logic design (SCALD) software was a computer aided design system developed for building the S-1 computer. It used the Stanford University Drawing System (SUDS), and it was developed by Thomas M. McWilliams and Lawrence ...

on one leg. After regaining consciousness the young man he reported having seen an elongated vehicle and that some strangely shaped beings descended from it, touching and hefting him. Both the young hikers suffered from

conjunctivitis Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation of the conjunctiva, outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness, or itchiness may ...

for some time.

Nature conservation

The mountain and its surrounding area are included in a SIC ''(

Site of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at ...

)'' of 1,524.29 ha called ''Monte Musine' e Laghi di Caselette'' (code IT1110081).''Siti di Importanza Comunitaria (SIC)'', Regione Piemonte, list o
gis.csi.it
(accessed in September 2011)

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * *

External links

*

Monte Musiné, Italy on peakbagger.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musine One-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Piedmont Mountains of the Graian Alps Archaeological sites in Piedmont Metropolitan City of Turin Natura 2000 in Italy