The Vispa is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

, located in the

Visp Visp (french: Viège) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Geography Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis. Visp has an area, , of . Of ...

area. It is essentially composed of two large branches: the Matter Vispa and the Saaser Vispa, converging at Stalden, then forming the Vispa proper, flowing for less than before converging with the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

at Visp. The Vispa is a left and major affluent of the Rhône, before it enters

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

. The Vispa collects the waters from the

Mattertal The Matter Valley (German: Mattertal, or sometimes ''Nikolaital'') is located in southwestern Switzerland, south of the Rhone valley in the canton of Valais. The village of Zermatt is the most important settlement of the valley, which is surrou ...

(formed by the Matter Vispa) and the

Saastal The Saastal or the Saas Valley is an alpine valley in the district of Visp, in the eastern part of the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the valley of the river Saaser Vispa. It is separated from the Mattertal to the west by the Mischabel ...

(formed by the Saaser Vispa), the two highest valleys in Switzerland and 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 ...

. Both valleys have mountains over above sea level, the highest being

Monte Rosa : , 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 ...

, the

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

and the

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Val ...

, and include numerous glaciers, large and small. As a result, the river is characterized by a glacial regime, similarly to the

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

, another nearby affluent of the Rhône. The Matter Vispa is the longest of the two branches. It is over long, from the mouth of the

Gorner Glacier The Gorner Glacier (german: Gornergletscher) is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier rela ...

to Stalden. It comprehends small but numerous affluents, notably the Gornera, Zmuttbach, Triftbach and Findelbach, all around

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...

, but also the Täschbach and Schalibach, near

Täsch Täsch is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is located about north of Zermatt. The local language is Swiss German. History Täsch is first mentioned in 1302 as ''Tech''. In Latin it was known a ...

, and the Riedbach, near St. Niklaus. The Matter Vispa (and Vispa) is closely followed by the

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is a narrow gauge railway line and a railway company (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG, MGB) in Switzerland. The track width is . It was created in 2003 through an amalgamation of Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) and BVZ Zermatt- ...

, a railway connecting Zermatt to Visp. The Saaser Vispa is second-longest affluent of the Vispa. It is about long, from

Monte Moro Pass The Monte Moro Pass (German: ''Monte-Moro-Pass'', Italian: ''Passo del Monte Moro'') is an Alpine pass located on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It connects Saas-Almagell in the Swiss canton of Valais to Macugnaga, Province of Verban ...

to Stalden. It comprehends only a few short affluents, the largest being the Furggbach, converging near

Saas-Almagell Saas-Almagell is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Saas-Almagell is first mentioned in 1291 as ''Armenzello''. In 1307 it was mentioned as ''Almenkel''. The settlement, at the upper end of ...

. The Saaser Vispa flows through the

Mattmarksee __NOTOC__ Mattmark dam is a reservoir in the Saas Valley of the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. The Mattmark dam was built from 1960 to 1965. The lake's surface area is . The lake lies at a height of 2,197 metres above sea level, between the mass ...

, an artificial lake located near its source, and notably collect the waters from the

Fee Glacier The Fee Glacier (german: Feegletscher) is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973, it had a length of and an area of . It lies east of the Mischabel range, between the summit of Dom o ...

(through the Feeru Vispa), near

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

. The Vispa proper, forming the Vispertal (German: Visp valley), constitutes the shortest section. It is about long and flows from Stalden, at an elevation of about to the Rhône at Visp and near

Baltschieder Baltschieder is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Baltschieder is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Ponczirrum''. In 1286 it was mentioned as ''Balschyedro''. Geography Baltschieder has an are ...

, at an elevation of about .

References

*Th
Vispa
on the

National Map of Switzerland National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

External links

* Rivers of Switzerland Rivers of Valais Tributaries of the Rhône {{Switzerland-river-stub