Monte Tobbio (in Ligurian ''Monte Tuggiu'') is a 1092 metres high mountain of the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, located in the

Italian region 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 ...

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

Geography

The mountain stands on the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

side of the

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...

defined by the Ligurian Apennine. It's the main summit of the ridge which, starting from

Monte delle Figne Monte delle Figne (Figne Mountain) is a mountain in Liguria, northern Italy, part of the Ligurian Apennines. It lies at an altitude of 1172 metres. Geography The mountain is located in the provinces of Genoa and Alessandria. Is divided by ...

, goes North dividing Gorzente and

Lemme The Lemme is a 35 km torrent, a right tributary of the Orba, which flows through the Province of Alessandria in northern Italy. Geography Its source is near Monte Calvo; from there it passes through the communes of Fraconalto, Voltaggio, ...

valleys. Administratively mount Tobbio belongs to the municipality of

Bosio Bosio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Bosio borders the following municipalities: Campo Ligure, Campomorone, Ca ...

(

province of Alessandria The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...

). Due to its prominent location Monte Tobbio is very easily recognisable from large areas both of the Ligurian Apennine and

Po plain The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

Environment

Monte Tobbio slopes are generally rocky and almost barren due to the poor soil formed by its

peridotite Peridotite ( ) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg2+), reflecting the high prop ...

s bedrock. Since 1979 the mountain belongs to the '' Capanne di Marcarolo'' regional natural park. The mountain and its surrounding area are also part of 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 ...

)'' called ''Capanne di Marcarolo'' (code: IT1180026).

History

On the summit stands a little church dedicated to Our Lady of Caravaggio. It was built in 1892 and rebuilt after severe damages occurred during the

world War II 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 ...

. In 1944's spring a group of

Italian partisans The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

were surrounded by

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

and

nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

troops on mount Tobbio. After a fight some of them managed to break the

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

while some others, after being captured, were transported near the Benedicta Abbey and executed by firing squads on April the 7th 1944.

Access to the summit

Monte Tobbio can be reached by signposted footpaths departing from

Voltaggio Voltaggio (Ottaggio in Ligurian) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Located there is a Roman bridge on the Lemme st ...

. It can also be accessed by a longer path from

, while the shortest way to climb the mountain from an asphalted road starts from the ''Valico degli Eremiti'' (''Hermites' pass'', m.559) and takes around 1.30 hours walk. Climbing Monte Tobbio is one of the most popular hikes of SE Piedmont and

province of Genoa The Province of Genoa (Italian ''Provincia di Genova'') was a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Genoa. It was replaced by Metropolitan City of Genoa. Overview It has an area of and a total population of about ...

and in clean days offers an impressive panorama ranging from the Ligurian Sea to a large stretch of the Italian Alps. Some branches of the

Club Alpino Italiano The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then finan ...

(C.A.I.) organize every year night hikes to the mountain, as for instance the local C.A.I. group of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

Mountain huts

* Maria Santissima di Caravaggio: on the top of the mountain, a room contiguous to the small church can be used as an emergence hut. * Rifugio Escursionistico Nido Del Biancone, owned by the park and located in ''Frazione Capanne di Marcarolo'' (

References

External links

* ''Da

al monte Tobbio'', hike description o
www.regione.piemonte.it
(in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

) * ''Appennino piemontese'', on-line guidebook of the Regione Piemonte, available for free in .pdf o
www.regione.piemonte.it
(in

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobbio, Monte Mountains of the Apennines Mountains of Piedmont One-thousanders of Italy