Pragelato (also ''Pragelà'';
Vivaro-Alpine
Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine ...
: ''Prajalats'', French: Prajalats) is a ''
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 ...
'' (municipality) in the
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 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
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
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, located about west of
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, in the upper
Val Chisone
The Val Chisone is one of the Occitan valleys of western Piedmont, situated in the Cottian Alps in the Metropolitan City of Turin in north-west Italy.
Geography
Traditionally, the valley's entrances are considered the towns of Pinerolo and Ses ...
. The name ''Pragelato'', meaning "icy meadow", has been derived from the harsh climate and the fact that the ground is covered with ice for long periods.
['Pragelato'](_blank)
in ''Dizionario topografico dei comuni compresi entro i confini naturali dell'Italia'', ed. by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence: Società Editrice di Patrii Documenti Storico-Statistici, 1864).[''Dizionario geografico, storico, statistico, commerciale degli stati di S.M. il re di Sardegna''](_blank)
ed. by Goffredo Casalis, 28 vols (Turin: G. Maspero, 1833–56) XV (1847), 707–709. On both sides of the
Chisone
The Chisone (in Piedmontese ''Chison'' or ''Cleson'') is a Italian torrent, which runs through Pragelato, Fenestrelle, Perosa Argentina and Pinerolo in the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is a tributary of the Pellice, which in turn is a tributary ...
, extensive forests of pine and larch provide protection from the avalanches which are a common occurrence in the winter season: for this reason in the nineteenth century the people of Pragelato were only permitted to fell trees close to the mountain summits, and even then only with the permission of the communal administration.
Pragelato borders the following municipalities:
Exilles Exilles ( Occitan: ''Eissilhas''; nonstandard Occitan: ''Isiya''; Piedmontese: ''Isiles''; Latin: ''Excingomagus'' or ''Scingomagus''; Italianization under Italian Fascism: ''Esille'') is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Ital ...
,
Oulx
Oulx ( oc, label= Occitan, Ors) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, in the Susa Valley on the border with France.
Names
Like many other towns in the Susa V ...
,
Salbertrand
Salbertrand is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, about 60 km west of Turin. At 31 December 2004 it had a population of 522 and an area of 40.9 km².All demographics and other st ...
,
Usseaux
Usseaux ( oc, Ussiau,Lucie Amaro-Péguy, ''L’occitan alpin d’Usseaux; description d’une langue en danger, en contact avec deux aires dialectales (francoprovençale et piémontaise), et sous l’influence de deux langues standards (français e ...
,
Fenestrelle
Fenestrelle ( oc, Finistrèlas, pms, Fenestrele) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin.
It is the location of the Fenestrelle Fort, an alpine fortification wh ...
,
Sauze d'Oulx
Sauze d'Oulx () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (northern Italy) located from Turin in the Val di Susa, at the foot of Monte Genevris ().
It was the site of the freestyle skiing events of the 2006 Olympic Wi ...
,
Massello
Massello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km west of Turin, in the Valle Germanasca.
Massello borders the following municipalities: Pragelato, Roure, Fenestrell ...
,
Sestriere
Sestriere (/se'strjɛre/) ( oc, Sestrieras, pms, Ël Sestrier, french: Sestrières) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the French border. Its name ...
,
Sauze di Cesana
Sauze di Cesana (French: Sauze de Césane) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km west of Turin, on the border with France.
Sauze di Cesana borders the foll ...
,
Salza di Pinerolo
Salza di Pinerolo (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Salsa'', French: Salze-de-Pignerol) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin.
Salza di Pinerolo borders the following mu ...
,
Prali
Prali (french: Praly) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin, on the border with France. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 322 and an area of ...
.
History
Pragelato was part of the
Escartons Republic
The Republic of the Escartons (Italian: ''Repubblica degli Escartons''; French: ''République des Écartons'') was a collection of mountain territories located around Mount Viso in the Briançonnais, with territory between Marseille and Turin. I ...
, a semi-independent French state which lasted from 1343 to 1713. After the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
of the latter, it became a possession of the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
.
In 1747 the nearby
Assietta Pass was the stage of the
eponymous battle. During the 19th and 20th century, much of the population emigrated to France.
On 19 April 1904, an avalanche struck the miners barracks of the Beth copper mine in the nearby
Troncea Valley, killing 81 people. A memorial plaque in the small cemetery of the Laval hamlet remembers the victims of the avalanche.
Pragelato was the site of three sports hosted during the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
. Its
ski jump
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...
hosted the
ski jumping
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...
and the ski jumping part of the
Nordic combined
Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...
events of the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
. The
flat part of the venue hosted the
cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
and cross country skiing part of the Nordic combined events for those same games.
2006 Winter Olympics official report.
Volume 3. pp. 72-3.
Ski area
Pragelato is well equipped for cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
. Its Olympic course – the Pragelato Plan Pragelato Plan is a cross-country skiing venue located in Pragelato, Italy. It hosted the cross-country skiing and the cross-country skiing portion of the Nordic combined events for the 2006 Winter Olympics in neighboring Turin
Turin ( , Pied ...
– has a snow-making system over , and a tourist course winds along Val Troncea Natural Park.
The ski-jumping stadium presents the Olympic heritage, which highlights the tourist-sport development of this resort.
Pragelato has his own alpine skiing areas with about of slopes and is linked to the Via Lattea
The Via Lattea ( italian for ''Milky Way'') is a winter sports area in the Italian and French Alps, straddling the French-Italian border at Claviere/Montgenèvre. Located some 70 km (44 miles) west of Turin, it comprises the five Piedmon ...
ski area, with about of slopes in Sestriere
Sestriere (/se'strjɛre/) ( oc, Sestrieras, pms, Ël Sestrier, french: Sestrières) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the French border. Its name ...
, Sauze d'Oulx
Sauze d'Oulx () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (northern Italy) located from Turin in the Val di Susa, at the foot of Monte Genevris ().
It was the site of the freestyle skiing events of the 2006 Olympic Wi ...
, Montgenevre (France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
), Claviere
Claviere is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about west of the centre of Turin, near the border with France. Claviere is a small, but well equipped skiing village. The snow season lasts ...
, Pragelato, San Sicario
Sansicario (also spelled San Sicario) is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Cesana Torinese (Metropolitan City of Turin) in Piedmont, north-western Italy.
It lies at 1,700 m in the Val Susa and has a population of 93 people. It is a famous ...
, Cesana
Cesana Torinese (French ''Césanne'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, on the border with France. Cesana is a popular winter ski resort, being connect ...
.
Natural parks
*Parco naturale Val Troncea
The nature park Parco naturale Val Troncea is located in Val Chisone, municipality of Pragelato in the Metropolitan City of Turin. The park was created in 1980 to preserve the natural environment.
Geography
The park is located between 1670 AMSL a ...
*Orsiera Nature Reserve, which stretches across the Northern 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 Ra ...
and encompasses the Val Chisone, Val Susa
The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the sou ...
and Val Sangone. On average, the borders of this protected area reach in elevation, and the reserve includes a wealth of fauna and historical landmarks, including rock engravings and military buildings.
*Alpine lakes include the Lakes of Cristalliera, where herds of mouflon come to graze, Lake Chardonnet, the Lakes of Beth, which afford views of the old abandoned copper mines, and the Lakes of Albergian, where edelweiss and Alpine aster blossom in summer.
References
External links
Summer & Winter: Official Tourism Information
City Council Official website
Pragelato SKI - new website
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Piedmont
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
Ski areas and resorts in Italy