Monte Viso or Monviso (; oc, Vísol;
Piedmontese
Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
: ''Brich Monviso'' or ''Viso'') is the highest mountain of the
Cottian Alps
The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rai ...
. It is located 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 ...
close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape and, because it is higher than all its neighbouring peaks by about 500 m, it can be seen from a great distance, including from the Piedmontese plateau, the
Langhe
The Langhe (; ''Langa'' is from old dialect Mons Langa et Bassa Langa) is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo and in the province of Asti in Piedmont, northern Italy.
It is famous for its wines, chees ...
, the Theodulpass in the
Zermatt
Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
...
ski area, the col du Galibier and the summits of the
Mont Blanc massif
The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...
. On a very clear day it can be seen from the spires of
Milan Cathedral
Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...
.
It has been suggested that Monte Viso could be one of the mountains which inspired the
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
logo. In Italy it is also known as ''Il Re di Pietra'' ("The Stone King") because of its prominence within the western Italian Alps. It was declared a cross-border
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
biosphere reserve in 2013.
It is also a mountain of the birth of the longest river of Italy,
River Po
The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...
.
Geography
On the northern slopes of Monte Viso are the
headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of the
Po, the longest Italian river, the so-called
Pian del Re
Pian may refer to:
* Pian (disease), a tropical infection of the skin, bones and joints
* Pian-e Olya, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* Pian-e Sofla, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* Pian Rural District, in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* ...
(2,020 m). The Monviso group is surrounded by the
Valle Po
The Valle Po (literally "Po valley") is a valley of the Cottian Alps in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy.
Geography
The valley gives rise to the longest river in Italy, the Po, before it enters the Pianura Padana (or Plain of ...
, Valle
Varaita
The Varaita (; pms, Vràita ; oc, Varacho ) is a river of the Province of Cuneo in northwest Italy. It is the first right tributary of the Po River.
Geography
The river springs at an elevation of some on the slopes of Monviso, in the Cottian A ...
and, on the French side, the
Guil
The Guil (french: le Guil) is a long river in the Hautes-Alpes ''département'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .[Punta Gastaldi
Punta is an Afro-indigenous dance and cultural music originating in the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent And The Grenadines by the Garifuna people before being exiled from the island. Which is also known as Yurumei. It has African and Arawak ...]
to the
Col de la Traversette
The Col de la Traversette (Italian: Colle delle Traversette) is a bridle pass with an altitude of 2,947 m in the Cottian Alps. Located between Crissolo and Abriès, it lies on the border between Italy and France and separates the Monviso (3,841 m) ...
, is located on the French border.
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 =
Cottian Alps
The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rai ...
* subsection = southern Cottian Alps
* supergroup = catena Aiguillette-Monviso-Granero
* group = gruppo del Monviso isa
* subgroup = nodo del Monviso
*
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/A-4.I-C.8.a
History
Monte Viso is the location of a
neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
jadeite
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition sodium, Naaluminium, Alsilicon, Si2oxygen, O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, bu ...
quarry, at an elevation of 2000 to 2400 metres. Its productivity peaked around 5000 BC. The jadeite was used to make cult
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
s, which are found all over western Europe. One such ceremonial axe head was found as far away as a small hill called Tristia in Western
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and is on display in the
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Seandálaíocht, often known as the "NMI") is a branch of the National Museum of Ireland located on Kildare Street in Dublin, Ireland, that specialises in Irish an ...
, Dublin.
In ancient times the mountain was known as Vesulus.
[Lewis C. T. and Short C., 1879, ''Latin Dictionary'', p 1982, citing Virgil ''Aen''. X 708 and Pliny 3. 16. 20 §117.]
Monte Viso was climbed for the first time on August 30, 1861 by
William Mathews,
Frederick Jacomb,
Jean-Baptiste Croz and
Michel Croz
Michel Auguste Croz (22 April 1830 in Le Tour, Chamonix valley – 14 July 1865, on the Matterhorn) was a French mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many mountains in the western Alps during the golden age of alpinism. He is chiefly reme ...
. The first woman to summit the mountain was
Alessandra Boarelli
Alessandra Boarelli (Turin, 1838 – Verzuolo, 1908) was an Italian mountaineer and, in 1864, became the first woman to summit Monviso in the Alps.
Biography
She was born in Turin, Italy, the daughter of Felice Re. After marrying Emilio-Giovann ...
(1838 – 1908) on 16 August 1864.
Monte Viso in literature
Monte Viso is mentioned by various authors, Italian and non-, including
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
,
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
, and
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
. Dante mentions the mountain in a long
simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...
in Canto XVI of the
Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
as the source of the
Montone River:
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
cites the mountain in the prologue to the
Clerk's Tale in his
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
, in a passage adapted from Petrarch's
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
version of his "Tale of Griselda":
(Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Clerk's Tale," from ''The Canterbury Tales'')
See also
*
List of Alpine peaks by prominence
This is a list of the mountains of the Alps, ordered by their topographic prominence. For a list by height, see the list of mountains of the Alps. By descending to 1,500 m of prominence, this list includes all the Ultras of the Alps. Some famous p ...
*
List of mountains of the Alps above 3000 m
This page tabulates only the most prominent mountains of the Alps, selected for having a topographic prominence of ''at least'' , and all of them exceeding in height. Although the list contains 537 summits, some significant alpine mountains ar ...
*
Monte Viso tunnel
The Monte Viso Tunnel (Italian: ''Buco di Viso''; French: ''Pertuis du Viso'') is an Alpine pedestrian tunnel excavated in the rock during the Renaissance and located eight kilometres north of Monviso (Cottian Alps), northern Italy. It is 75 ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Monte Viso on SummitPost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viso
Alpine three-thousanders
Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC
Mountains of Piedmont
Mountains of the Alps
Archaeological sites in Italy
Province of Cuneo
Neolithic
Biosphere reserves of France
Biosphere reserves of Italy
Three-thousanders of Italy