The Ossola (, also Valle Ossola or Val d’Ossola) is an area of
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 ...
situated to the north of
Lago Maggiore
Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...
. It lies within the
Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (Italian: ''Provincia del Verbano Cusio Ossola'' ) is the northernmost province in the Italian region of Piedmont. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the Pr ...
. Its principal river is the
Toce
The Toce () is a river in Piedmont, Italy, which stretches the length of the Val d'Ossola from the Swiss border to Lake Maggiore into which it debouches near Fondotoce in the commune of Verbania. The river is long and is formed in the upper V ...
, and its most important town
Domodossola
Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...
.
Etymology
There are many etymological claims as to the origins of the name Ossola. The most likely is from the Celtic "hoch hill", which means "high lands". The German name for the valley is ''Eschental'' ("valley of the ash trees").
Geography
Ossola is composed of one main valley (the Ossola proper) and seven side valleys:
Anzasca,
Antrona,
Bognanco
Bognanco (Western Lombard dialect, Western Lombard: ''Bügnanch''), population about 250, is a comune, commune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located in an Alpine valley about northeast of Turin im ...
,
Divedro,
Antigorio,
Formazza
Formazza ( wae, Pumât, pms, Formassa) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Verbania, on the border with Switzerland.
Formazz ...
,
Isorno
Isorno is a former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 10 April 2016 the former municipalities of Vergeletto, Gresso, Mosogno and Isorno merged into the municipality of Onsernone.
The former mu ...
and
Vigezzo.
It is surrounded by the
Pennine Alps
The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ( ...
on the western side and by the
Lepontine Alps
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, photo=MonteLeone0001.jpg
, photo_caption=Monte Leone
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, subdivision1=
, parent= Western Alps
, borders ...
on the northern and eastern sides.
The main towns are
Domodossola
Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...
,
Villadossola
Villadossola (Piedmontese ''Vila d'Òssola'') is a town and ''comune'' of the Val d’Ossola in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont, northern Italy, some northeast of Turin. It stands just south of Domodossola, to the west of the Toce ...
,
Crevoladossola
Crevoladossola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania.
Crevoladossola borders the following municipalities: Bognanc ...
,
Ornavasso
Ornavasso (Ossolano: ''Urnavass'', Walser German: ''Urnafasch'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania.
Overview
Or ...
and
Mergozzo
Mergozzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania.
Mergozzo borders the following municipalities: Gravellona Toce, ...
.
Ossola’s highest elevation is the
Nordend, a peak of the
Monte Rosa Massif
:
, other_name = Monte Rosa massif
, translation = Mount Rose
, photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg
, photo_caption = Central Mon ...
, which is also the highest peak of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
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, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
. Excluding the Monte Rosa's peaks, other important mountains are the
Pizzo d'Andolla
The Portjengrat (also known as ''Pizzo d'Andolla'') is a mountain of the Pennine Alps, located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It lies south of the Weissmies and the Zwischbergen Pass, where the international border diverges away f ...
, the
Monte Leone
Monte Leone is the highest mountain of the Lepontine Alps and is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The mountain stands on the extreme west of the Lepontine Alps, a few kilometres east of Simplon Pass.
Etymology
''Leone'' i ...
, the
Corno Cieco
The Blinnenhorn (German) or Corno Cieco (Italian) is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, located on the border between Italy and Switzerland. On the north-east side lies the Gries Glacier.
See also
*List of mountains of Valais
*List of most isol ...
and, in the lower part of the valley, the
Monte Capezzone
The Monte Capezzone (in Titzschu ''Jungebärg'') is a mountain in the Pennine Alps of north-western Italy; with an elevation of is the highest peak of the Strona Valley.
Geography
The mountain is located at the tripoint between three valley ...
and the
Monte Massone
The Monte Massone, at an elevation of , is a mountain of the Pennine Alps in North-western Italy.
Geography
The mountain belongs to the water divide between Strona Valley (South) and Ossola Valley (North). The southern slopes of Monte Massone ...
.
It is home to the
Alpe Veglia and Alpe Devero Natural Park
The Alpe Veglia and Alpe Devero Natural Park was established in 1995 and is in the Ossola valley, in the Province of Verbania, Italy.
History
The hollows are geologically and mineralogically interesting, since they testify long period geological p ...
,
Alta Valle Antrona Natural Park
The Alta Valle Antrona Natural Park is a nature reserve in Piedmont, in Italy.
It is in the Ossola valley between an altitude of 500 and 3.656 m (Pizzo d'Andolla). Despite the mining activities carried out in the past, the natural vegetation and ...
and also includes parts of the
Val Grande National Park
Val Grande National Park ( it, Parco Nazionale della Val Grande) is a protected area located in Piedmont, in the north of Italy, at the border with Switzerland. It is most notable for landscapes of the High Alps.
Geography
The park is located in P ...
, Italy’s largest wilderness area.
History
Republic of Ossola
![Flag of the Italian Partisan Republic of Ossola](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Flag_of_the_Italian_Partisan_Republic_of_Ossola.svg)
In 1944, with the
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
still stuck south 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 ...
and
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
's
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
controlling all of
Northern 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 ...
, the
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 ...
staged an uprising behind German lines, led by the
Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy. This rebellion led to the establishment of a number of provisional partisan governments throughout Northern Italy, of which the
Free Republic of Ossola was the most prominent.
[Pellanda 2010] It received official recognition from
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and from Allied consulates in Switzerland. Within a few weeks, German reinforcements had crushed the uprising, and the area's liberation had to wait until the final offensives of 1945.
Notes
References
*Pellanda, Luigi (2010). ''Storm Over Ossola: Diary of Luigi Pellanda''. Author House.
External links
Comunità Montana Valle Ossola- Official website
Parco Nazionale Val Grande- Val Grande National Park's official website.
Ossolaland- Land of Parks, Website in English (Francais, Nederlands, Deutsch, Italiano).
{{Authority control
Valleys of Piedmont
Former republics