Monte Pietraborga is a mountain in the Cottian Alps,

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 ...

in Piedmont, north-western Italy. It is located between the comuni of Trana and

Sangano Sangano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin. Sangano borders the following municipalities: Reano, Villarbasse, Trana, Rivalta di Torino, Bruino and P ...

Features

The mountain overlooks Trana and belongs to the South flank of the Sangone valley. On its summit three ridges meet: the Eastern one goes down till to a saddle at 658 m then, after regaining some metres of elevation with the Punta del Colletto (685 m), ends up close to the centre of

; the brief North ridge goes down heading to Trana, and the South ridge connects the Pietraborga with Monte San Giorgio.

Geology

The Pietraborga is known by geologists as an example of mountain made of

serpentine Serpentine may refer to: Shapes * Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent * Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve * Serpentine, a type of riding figure Science and nature * Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals * Serpentinite, a ...

. North of the mountain a stone quarry operated in the early

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History

The Pietraborga

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 ...

was built in 1900. Not faraway from the summit, heading towards Colle Damone, stands a group of

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

s interpreted by some people as

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remains (

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

s and menhirs roughly arranged in a circle in the so called ''Sito dei Celti'' - ''Celtics' Site''). The village of Pratovigero, located on the Pietraborga slopes facing Trana, was permanently inhabited till to the

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Access to the summit

The Pietraborga is mainly a mountain for

hike Hike may refer to: * Hiking, walking lengthy distances in the countryside or wilderness * Hiking (sailing), moving a sailor's body weight as far to windward (upwind) as possible, in order to counteract the force of the wind pushing sideways agains ...

rs, and can be reached following a footpath starting from the San Sebastiano chapel in

(''Via delle Prese''). The route follows the South-Eastern slopes passing by the ''Cippo De Vitis'' (460 m), a memorial monument devoted to the Italian

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Sergio De Vitis, killed by the nazist troops in

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. There are also shorter ways to reach the summit: one starts from the village of Pratovigero ( Trana), easily crossing the Colle Damone (758 m), and another from the Prese di Piossasco, following the South ridge of Pietraborga. A little less easy way, after the ''Cippo De Vitis'', runs on the East ridge of the mountain. Another hiking route is known as ''Direttissima'', and follows a very steep footpath in the wood which directly connects Pratovigero to the summit. Some stone pinnacles close to the summit are an interesting

climbing area A climbing area is a small geographical region with a concentration of opportunities for climbing. The term is most commonly used of rock climbing areas, but there are also ice climbing areas that have the right combination of steepness and wat ...

, even if the routes are not so long. The summit of the Pietraborga offers a very appreciated view which ranges from the Monviso to the Turin plain and hillside, and from the Sacra di San Michele to the mountains close to Pinerolo. Even if not located at a high altitude Monte Pietraborga has its own summit register.

Maps

* ''6 - Pinerolese Val Sangone'', 1:25.000 scale, publisher: Fraternali, Ciriè * ''17 - Torino Pinerolo e Bassa Val di Susa'', 1:50.000 scale, publisher: IGC - Istituto Geografico Centrale, Torino

References

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