250px, Montespluga in summer. Montespluga is an Alpine village near the head of the

Valle Spluga The Valle Spluga, also known as the Val San Giacomo and as the Val dei Giüst, is an Alpine valley in the north Italian Province of Sondrio (Lombardy), which extends from the Splügen Pass, on the border with Switzerland, south to Chiavenna Chi ...

in the

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 ...

region of Lombardy. It is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the ''

comune 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 ...

'' of

Madesimo Madesimo (, called Isolato until 1983) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. Madesimo borders the ...

, located at 1,908 m of altitude on the road to Chiavenna.

Geography

The village marks the Italian end of the

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the ...

(Italian: ''Passo dello Spluga'', c. 3 km from the village). Since the opening of the

San Bernardino tunnel The San Bernardino road tunnel is a road tunnel in the canton of Graubünden in south-eastern Switzerland. It runs under the San Bernardino Pass between the town of San Bernardino and the town of Hinterrhein, and forms part of the A13 motorway ...

to the west, the pass is no longer kept open in winter and the village can be cut off from both Italy and Switzerland. The village consists of three main streets (Via Dogana, Via Ferre and Via Val Longa), a small shop and a couple of small hotels. A reservoir lies to the south of the village. Mountains nearby include the

Pizzo Tambò Tambohorn or Pizzo Tambo (Swiss names) or Pizzo Tambò (used in Italy) is a mountain located at the eastern extremity of the Lepontine Alps on the Swiss-Italian border. The mountain lies on the German-Italian language border, west of the Splü ...

, part of the

Lepontine Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=MonteLeone0001.jpg , photo_caption=Monte Leone , country_type= Countries , country= , subdivision1_type= Cantons, Regions , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders ...

Notes and references

Frazioni of the Province of Sondrio Cities and towns in Lombardy {{Lombardy-geo-stub