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. 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, 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, 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 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 Ital ...

on the western side and by the Lepontine Alps 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 To ...

, Crevoladossola,

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 O ...

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 Nordend (meaning ''north end'' in German) is a northern peak of the Monte Rosa Massif. Nordend is the fourth highest peak of the massif, after the Dufourspitze (4,634 m), the Dunantspitze (4,632 m) and the Grenzgipfel (4,618 m). See also *List ...

, a peak of the Monte Rosa Massif, 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 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 iso ...

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 valle ...

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 ...

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 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 Declaration by United Nations, United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during the World War II, Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis ...

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 ...

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 region ...

, 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 Socia ...

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