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 ...

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 ...

. 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 , 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 ...

on the northern and eastern sides. The main towns are

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 , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , 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 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, Alta Valle Antrona Natural Park 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

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 and Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic controlling all of Northern Italy, 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 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