Valpelline (valley)
Valpelline is one of the side valleys of the
The stream running through the Valpelline is the River Buthier.
Geography
The Valpelline branches from the Great St Bernard Valley near Gignod and rises to Collon Pass, which it shares with Valais, and which is located at the foot of the Grand Combin, whose peak is across the border in Switzerland.
Principal mountains
- Dent d'Hérens (4,171 m)
- Punta Margherita (Pointe Marguerite) (3,905 m)
- Dents des Bouquetins (3,838 m)
- Tête de Valpelline (3,802 m)
- Tête Blanche (3,724 m)
- Mont Vélan (3,708 m)
- Gran Becca Blanchen (3,680 m)
- Grande Tête de By (3,587 m)
- Aouille Tseuque (3,554 m)
- Mont Brulé (3,538 m)
- Becca Rayette (3,529 m)
- Mont Gelé(3,519 m)
- Becca di Luseney (Pic de Luseney) (3,504 m)
- Punta Kurz (3,496 m)
- Château des Dames (3,488 m)
- Punta di Fontanella (3,384 m)
- Becca di Chardoney (Pic de Chardoney) (3,447 m)
- Punta Cian (Pointe Tsan) (3,320 m).
Rivers
The main stream of the Valpelline is the Buthier, which is fed by melt-waters of the Tsa de Tsan and Grandes Murailles glaciers.
Lakes
- Place-Moulin Lake (1,950 m)
Alpine passes
Valpelline has no convenient crossings to its neighbouring valleys, However the principal
- Valpelline Pass (3,562 m) to Mattertal
- Col d'Oren (3,242 m) to the valley of Bagnes
- Val d'Herens
- Valcornera Pass (3,066 m) to the Valtournenche valley
- Crête Sèche Pass (2,888) to the valley of Bagnes
- Vessona Pass (2,794 m) to the Saint-Barthélemy valley
- Fenêtre de Durand (2,786 m) to the valley of Bagnes
Climate
The Valpelline is known locally in
History
The valley was for a long period a site of exchange—or of conflict—with the neighbouring Valais.
In the Middle Ages the valley was a possession of the lords of Quart, which they granted to the noble family of the district known as La Tour-de-Valpelline (or La-Tour-des-Prés).
On the extinction of the Quart Family in 1377, Valpelline passed to the House of Savoy. In 1612 it was assigned to the Perrone di San Martino, a Piedmontese noble family involved in the exploitation of the mine at Ollomont.
The valley was for many centuries difficult of access: the first carriage road to Bionaz was constructed in 1953.
Centres of population
Places of interest
The parish of Saint-Pantaléon de Valpelline
The parish of
Tourism
Hikers are catered for by a number of mountain huts (rifugi) and bivouac shelters:
- Rifugio Franco Chiarella all'Amianthe (2,979 m)
- Rifugio Champillon (2,835 m)
- Rifugio Nacamuli al Col Collon (2,818 m)
- Rifugio Aosta (2,781 m)
- Rifugio Crête Sèche(2,398 m)
- Rifugio Prarayer (2,005 m)
- Bivacco Perelli Cippo (3,831 m)
- Bivacco Biagio Musso (3,664 m)
- Bivacco Paoluccio (3,572 m)
- Bivacco Tête des Roeses (3,200 m)
- Bivacco della Sassa (2,979 m)
- Bivacco Nino Recondi (2,650 m)
- Bivacco Rosazza al Savoie (2,650 m)
- Bivacco Franco Spataro (2,600 m)
- Bivacco La Lliée (2,422 m)
Organisations
The Compagnie des guides du Valpelline — the association of Alpine guides for the Valdôtain (Italian) basin of Grand Combin—is based at Étroubles.
Notable personalities
The
The works of Mario Glassier, a dialect poet born in 1931 in Oyace, include L'etéila di bon berdzé.
Attribution
This article began life as a translation of the corresponding article in the Italian language Wikipedia.
External links
Media related to Valpelline (valley) at Wikimedia Commons- Website of the Unité des communes valdôtaines du Grand-Combin.
- Website of the Compagnie des guides du Valpelline
