View allAll Photos Tagged RepubblicaItaliana
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.
It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Many famous people have owned homes on the shores of Lake Como.
One of its particularities is its "Y" shape, which forms the "Larian Triangle", with the little town of Canzo as its capital.
In 2014, The Huffington Post described it as the most beautiful lake in the world for its microclimate and environment with prestigious villas and villages.
Etymology
The lake's name in Latin is Larius, Italianized as Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como (literally "lake of Como"). Its name comes from the city of Como, known to the Romans as Comum.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like an inverted letter "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a boat service operates a triangular route between them.
Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake (between Como, Bellagio, and Lecco) is known as the Larian Triangle, or Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità Montana del Triangolo lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities that represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Como lake in Italy
Lake Como's climate is humid subtropical (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification system). In winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region. Average daily temperatures range from ~3.7 °C (39 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74 °F) in July, according to historical weather data from Como. Water temperatures can reach an average of 24 °C (75 °F) in July. Snowfall is erratic and occurs mainly at higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.
History
At the beginning of the first millennium B.C. during the Iron Age, the Comum oppidum was born and the civilization of Como developed, inserted in the broader Golasecca culture. In 196 B.C. the army of the consul Claudius Marcellus defeats the Celts tribe of the Comenses and conquers the city. Comum was then strengthened and rebuilt after a raid by Rhaetian and repopulated with 3,000 settlers in 77 BC. Finally, after having reclaimed the marshy area, in 59 B.C. it was re-founded with the name of Novum Comun in its current location on the lake shore at the behest of Gaius Julius Caesar.[6] Pliny the Younger, in one of his Epistulae, describes the lake and its surrounding area as providing plentiful opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, at least since the 4th century, a Praefectus commanding a Roman military fleet was present on the lake.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the waters of the lake were the scene of military clashes, such as in the 12th century during the war of Milan against Como, which saw the Como fleet in action against the ships of the Milanese and their allies or between 1525 and 1532 due to the Musso war unleashed by Gian Giacomo Medici
On 28 April 1945, deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed in the lakeside village of Giulino, about 180 metres (590 ft) from the waterfront.
Tourism and Economy
As a tourist destination, Lake Como is popular for its landscapes, wildlife, and spas. It is a venue for sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing.
Although generally considered safe, bathers aiming to find relief from the heat and swimming enthusiasts alike should exercise caution, as a prevailing regulation prohibits diving and swimming both in the city of Como and in the various small villages along the lake. Exceptions are found only in privately managed lidos or designated public beaches where explicit signage permits swimming activities. This prohibition stems from the danger posed by the lake's waters that swiftly transition from shallow to deep near the shoreline and from unpredictable aquatic conditions, which have led to numerous incidents, including drowning cases attributed to sudden thermal shock.
In the area surrounding Lake Como, there are several farms which produce goods such as honey, olive oil, cheese, milk, eggs and salamis. Visitors can find lists of these farms and typically visit the farm itself in person to make their purchases.
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas that have been built there since Roman times when Pliny the Younger built the Comedia and the Tragedia resorts. Many villas on the lake shores have admirable gardens that benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilizing presence of 22.5 cubic kilometres (5.4 cu mi) of lake water and can sustain many subtropical and Mediterranean plants.
Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese Marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 7 hectares (17 acres) at Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden (with steps, fountains, and sculptures) was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to powerful banker and Napoleonic politician Giovanni Battista Sommariva. Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of La Chartreuse de Parme. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen, laid out the woodland landscape park in Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva's friend Antonio Canova and by Luigi Acquisti.
Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–1817 the villa was home to Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century, it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d'Este is known for attracting celebrity guests.[citation needed]
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near Isola Comacina. Built-in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.[citation needed]
Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio was built in neo-classical style by architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–1810 as the summer residence of Duke Francesco Melzi d'Eril, who was vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. The park includes an orangery, a private chapel, fine statues, and a Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on Lake Como, with huge rhododendrons. 19th-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and Franz Liszt.
Villa Serbelloni, also in Bellagio, hosts the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) international conference centre set up and managed by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which also operates a "scholar-in-residence" program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger's villa "Tragedia". Its well-known park was created at the end of the 18th century by Alessandro Serbelloni.[citation needed]
Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, Pierina Legnani, Lionel Messi and José Mourinho.
Ferries
The Lake Como ferry service is a highly developed public transport system linking the many small towns around the Lake. A motorized service began in 1826 when a steamship with sails, the Lario, was launched by the newly established Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto. Since 1952 the system has been run under the auspices of a government organization called first the Gestione Commissariale Governativa and subsequently the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi, which is also responsible for services on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda.
Today there are three main services:
Motorship services along the western branch and northern end of the Lake (between Colico or Piona and Como town), with additional shuttles to the mid-lake area.
Fast services that follow broadly the same route, but use faster hydrofoils, stop less frequently, and cost extra.
Ferries that run only between the popular mid-lake villages of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna, plus Cadenabbia. Some of these boats carry vehicles as well as passengers.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio ("Holy Mount of Ossuccio") is a sanctuary located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing Isola Comacina. Fifteen Baroque-inspiredchapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 2003, the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, including that of Ossuccio, were added by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
Villages, resorts, and other notable localities near the lake
Cities and villages on Lake Como
Western shore
from North to SouthSouth shore
from West to EastEastern shore
from North to South
Domaso
Gravedona
Dongo
Musso
Menaggio
Cadenabbia
Griante
Tremezzo
Mezzegra
Lenno
Ossuccio
Sala Comacina
Colonno
Argegno
Brienno
Moltrasio
Cernobbio
Como
Como
Blevio
Brunate
Torno
Nesso
Bellagio
Malgrate
Lecco
Colico
Dorio
Dervio
Bellano
Varenna
Lierna
Mandello del Lario
Lecco
In literature and the arts
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Lake of Como was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, in 1837. It illustrates a painting by Samuel Prout, engraved by William Miller.
In 1818 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Thomas Love Peacock: "This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty, except the arbutus islands of Killarney. It is long and narrow, and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests."
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.
It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Many famous people have owned homes on the shores of Lake Como.
One of its particularities is its "Y" shape, which forms the "Larian Triangle", with the little town of Canzo as its capital.
In 2014, The Huffington Post described it as the most beautiful lake in the world for its microclimate and environment with prestigious villas and villages.
Etymology
The lake's name in Latin is Larius, Italianized as Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como (literally "lake of Como"). Its name comes from the city of Como, known to the Romans as Comum.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like an inverted letter "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a boat service operates a triangular route between them.
Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake (between Como, Bellagio, and Lecco) is known as the Larian Triangle, or Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità Montana del Triangolo lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities that represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Como lake in Italy
Lake Como's climate is humid subtropical (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification system). In winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region. Average daily temperatures range from ~3.7 °C (39 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74 °F) in July, according to historical weather data from Como. Water temperatures can reach an average of 24 °C (75 °F) in July. Snowfall is erratic and occurs mainly at higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.
History
At the beginning of the first millennium B.C. during the Iron Age, the Comum oppidum was born and the civilization of Como developed, inserted in the broader Golasecca culture. In 196 B.C. the army of the consul Claudius Marcellus defeats the Celts tribe of the Comenses and conquers the city. Comum was then strengthened and rebuilt after a raid by Rhaetian and repopulated with 3,000 settlers in 77 BC. Finally, after having reclaimed the marshy area, in 59 B.C. it was re-founded with the name of Novum Comun in its current location on the lake shore at the behest of Gaius Julius Caesar.[6] Pliny the Younger, in one of his Epistulae, describes the lake and its surrounding area as providing plentiful opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, at least since the 4th century, a Praefectus commanding a Roman military fleet was present on the lake.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the waters of the lake were the scene of military clashes, such as in the 12th century during the war of Milan against Como, which saw the Como fleet in action against the ships of the Milanese and their allies or between 1525 and 1532 due to the Musso war unleashed by Gian Giacomo Medici
On 28 April 1945, deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed in the lakeside village of Giulino, about 180 metres (590 ft) from the waterfront.
Tourism and Economy
As a tourist destination, Lake Como is popular for its landscapes, wildlife, and spas. It is a venue for sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing.
Although generally considered safe, bathers aiming to find relief from the heat and swimming enthusiasts alike should exercise caution, as a prevailing regulation prohibits diving and swimming both in the city of Como and in the various small villages along the lake. Exceptions are found only in privately managed lidos or designated public beaches where explicit signage permits swimming activities. This prohibition stems from the danger posed by the lake's waters that swiftly transition from shallow to deep near the shoreline and from unpredictable aquatic conditions, which have led to numerous incidents, including drowning cases attributed to sudden thermal shock.
In the area surrounding Lake Como, there are several farms which produce goods such as honey, olive oil, cheese, milk, eggs and salamis. Visitors can find lists of these farms and typically visit the farm itself in person to make their purchases.
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas that have been built there since Roman times when Pliny the Younger built the Comedia and the Tragedia resorts. Many villas on the lake shores have admirable gardens that benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilizing presence of 22.5 cubic kilometres (5.4 cu mi) of lake water and can sustain many subtropical and Mediterranean plants.
Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese Marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 7 hectares (17 acres) at Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden (with steps, fountains, and sculptures) was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to powerful banker and Napoleonic politician Giovanni Battista Sommariva. Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of La Chartreuse de Parme. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen, laid out the woodland landscape park in Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva's friend Antonio Canova and by Luigi Acquisti.
Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–1817 the villa was home to Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century, it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d'Este is known for attracting celebrity guests.[citation needed]
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near Isola Comacina. Built-in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.[citation needed]
Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio was built in neo-classical style by architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–1810 as the summer residence of Duke Francesco Melzi d'Eril, who was vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. The park includes an orangery, a private chapel, fine statues, and a Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on Lake Como, with huge rhododendrons. 19th-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and Franz Liszt.
Villa Serbelloni, also in Bellagio, hosts the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) international conference centre set up and managed by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which also operates a "scholar-in-residence" program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger's villa "Tragedia". Its well-known park was created at the end of the 18th century by Alessandro Serbelloni.[citation needed]
Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, Pierina Legnani, Lionel Messi and José Mourinho.
Ferries
The Lake Como ferry service is a highly developed public transport system linking the many small towns around the Lake. A motorized service began in 1826 when a steamship with sails, the Lario, was launched by the newly established Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto. Since 1952 the system has been run under the auspices of a government organization called first the Gestione Commissariale Governativa and subsequently the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi, which is also responsible for services on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda.
Today there are three main services:
Motorship services along the western branch and northern end of the Lake (between Colico or Piona and Como town), with additional shuttles to the mid-lake area.
Fast services that follow broadly the same route, but use faster hydrofoils, stop less frequently, and cost extra.
Ferries that run only between the popular mid-lake villages of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna, plus Cadenabbia. Some of these boats carry vehicles as well as passengers.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio ("Holy Mount of Ossuccio") is a sanctuary located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing Isola Comacina. Fifteen Baroque-inspiredchapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 2003, the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, including that of Ossuccio, were added by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
Villages, resorts, and other notable localities near the lake
Cities and villages on Lake Como
Western shore
from North to SouthSouth shore
from West to EastEastern shore
from North to South
Domaso
Gravedona
Dongo
Musso
Menaggio
Cadenabbia
Griante
Tremezzo
Mezzegra
Lenno
Ossuccio
Sala Comacina
Colonno
Argegno
Brienno
Moltrasio
Cernobbio
Como
Como
Blevio
Brunate
Torno
Nesso
Bellagio
Malgrate
Lecco
Colico
Dorio
Dervio
Bellano
Varenna
Lierna
Mandello del Lario
Lecco
In literature and the arts
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Lake of Como was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, in 1837. It illustrates a painting by Samuel Prout, engraved by William Miller.
In 1818 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Thomas Love Peacock: "This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty, except the arbutus islands of Killarney. It is long and narrow, and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests."
Palazzo Loredan - Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (IVSLA) / Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters & Arts, Campo Santo Stefano 2945/2946, San Marco, 30124 Venezia, VE, IT - De' Visi mostruosi e Caricature - Da Leonardo da Vinci a Bacon / Of Monstrous Faces and Caricatures - From Leonardo da Vinci to Bacon, 28 Gennaio - 27 Aprile 2023 / Jan. 28th - Apr. 27th 2023 19/19
Francis Bacon (Oct. 28th 1909 - Apr. 28th 1992) - Tre Studi per il Ritratto di Isabel Rawsehorne / Three Studies for Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne (1965)
Palazzo Trevisan Cappello, Calle Seconda de la Fava 4301, 30122 Venezia VE, IT 01/03
w. Ponte dei Cappelli
Theresa Irene Wolowski waving the The flag of Italy / bandiera d'Italia while traveling along the canals of Venice / Venezia, Italy / Italia, The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture, and its artwork.The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region.
About this portion of the journey:
LUCERNE – VENICE
Traverse the Alps into Italy via the scenic St. Gotthard route and catch a glimpse of Lake Como. Skirt the sprawling commercial capital, Milan, arriving later in the region of Venice, a historically wealthy city built across 118 islands in a marshy lagoon.
VENICE ORIENTATION – FLORENCE
Cruise by private launch to St. Mark's Square and see the sumptuous Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Watch the Venetian craftsmen at work creating local specialities at a glassblowing workshop. Afterwards, you might like to take an optional experience to Burano Island for a delightful lunch. Cross the Apennine Mountains, arriving later in Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance.
For more information on the city of Venice / Venezia visit:
www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/ID...
For more information on visiting Italy www.italia.it/en/home.html
Trafalgar Travel
London to Rome Highlights Tour
October 16th 2014 returning to New York City on Sunday October 26th 2014
Eleven day tour visiting four countries
London, England, UK United Kingdom (2 nights)
Paris, France (2 nights)
Lucerne, Switzerland (1 night)
Venice, Italy (1 night)
Florence, Italy (1 night)
Rome, Italy (2 nights)
costsaver.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/london-to-rome-highligh...
For more on Trafalgar Travel
866-513-1995
Hashtag metadata tag
#Venice #VeniceItaly #VeniceItalia #Venezia #VeneziaItaly #VeneziaItalia #ItalianRepublic #RepubblicaItaliana #Europe #Italian #Italy #Italia #Europe #European #TiAmoItaly #TiAmoItalia #TiAmoVenice #TiAmoVenezia #Veneto #WorldHeritage #WorldHeritageSite #HeritageSite #Italiana
Photo
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana country, Europe continent
Rome / Roma city, Italy / Italia country, Europe continent
October 23rd 2014
Dumenza ( Duménsa in Varese dialect ) is an Italian municipality of 1,438 inhabitants in the province of Varese in Lombardy .
It is made up of the hamlets of Runo , Due Cossani , Stivigliano, Trezzino, Vignone and Torbera and other various localities.
Physical geography
The territory is crossed by the Rio Colmegnino , which originates in the locality of Regordallo ( Due Cossani ) from Mount Colmegnino and flows into Lake Maggiore at the level of the Colmegna di Luino hamlet . However, the valley dug in this way takes the name of Val Dumentina (also called Valle Smeralda due to its green colours). To the north of Colmegnino stands Monte Lema , which with its 1624 meters above sea level is an excellent panoramic peak, the highest in the Luinese area, served by a cable car on the Swiss side , from Miglieglia . In fact, Dumenza borders Switzerland and hosts a pedestrian crossing in Palone (Dumenza). To the north, however, it borders Val Veddasca , which can be accessed by continuing along provincial road 6.
Origins of the name
Various theories justify the toponym . The most probable is that it derives from a person's name: in the lists of "fires" (i.e. families) of the municipality, the name Dugmentio appears among some heads of families . It could derive from dux mensae or from loco mensa . In fact, only in one historical document, from another municipality, does it appear as Locomenza .
History
Two stone brackets decorated with human faces, found by the parish priest Parapini in the church, date back to 909. They are now found at the base of the tower. But these districts are already mentioned in an 18th century document which testifies how King Liutprand donated the lands of Valtravaglia to the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia .
The bell tower of the church of San Giorgio , in Runo , seems to have had a military role in the period preceding the year one thousand , during the various barbarian invasions : the road, in fact, which led from Varese to Luino and then to Dumenza, was the only one that accessed Bellinzona , as the long lake did not exist. It was probably part of a system of towers along these valleys, of which Runo's is the only one surviving.
From the 16th century it was under the lordship of the rich and powerful Moriggia family .
In the Napoleonic era the municipality annexed Runo for the first time . The first city council was elected in 1821 . In 1928 fascism gave the municipality its current extension by incorporating Due Cossani and Runo.
Monuments and places of interest
The church of San Nazario.
The church of the Immaculate Conception (of the former institute of the Ursuline nuns).
The church of San Giorgio in Runo
The historic center of Dumenza is characterized by rural houses with large sunny balconies.
Stivigliano maintains its medieval conformation intact, with narrow streets and houses close together. An old turret [6] is visible overlooking the Val Dumentina, evidently for military purposes.
Lake Maggiore or Verbano ( Lagh Magior in Lombard and Piedmontese ) is a pre-Alpine lake of fluvioglacial origin in the Italian geographical region . Its shores are shared between Switzerland ( Canton Ticino ) and Italy (provinces of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Novara , in Piedmont , and Varese , in Lombardy ).
The name Maggiore derives from the fact that it is the largest of the lakes in the area, but among the Italian lakes it is the second in surface area after Lake Garda (as well as the second in depth after Lake Como ). In the past it was joined to Lake Mergozzo , from which it was separated due to the formation of the Fondotoce Plain .
Lake Maggiore is located at a height of approximately 193 meters above sea level . Its surface area is 212 km² , most of which, approximately 80%, is in Italian territory. It has a perimeter of 170 km and a length of 64.37 km (the largest among Italian lakes); the maximum width is 10 km and the average width is 3.9 km. The volume of water contained is equal to 37.5 billion m³ with a theoretical replacement time of approximately 4 years. The hydrographic basin is approximately 6,598 km² of which 3,229 are in Italian territory and 3,369 in Swiss territory (the ratio between the surface area of the basin and that of the lake is 31.1). The maximum altitude of the catchment basin is Punta Dufour in the Monte Rosa massif (4,633 m above sea level), while the average altitude is 1,270 m above sea level. The basin is characterized by the existence of around thirty artificial reservoirs with a collection of approximately 600 million of m³ of water which, if released simultaneously, would raise the lake level by approximately 2.5 m. The maximum depth is approximately 370 m (in the cryptodepression between Ghiffa and Porto Valtravaglia ) which is therefore 177 m below sea level.
The major tributaries are the Ticino , the Maggia , the Toce (which receives the waters of the Strona torrent and therefore of Lake Orta ) and the Tresa (in turn an emissary of Lake Lugano and fed by the Margorabbia ). The major tributaries have a different flow pattern, while Ticino and Toce, which have a catchment basin at high altitudes, reach a maximum flow in the period between May and October coinciding with the melting of snow and glaciers ; the other tributaries have a trend strongly influenced by rainfall . Minor tributaries are the Verzasca , Cannobino , San Bernardino , San Giovanni , Giona and Boesio streams . The only emissary is the Ticino which flows from the lake to Sesto Calende .
Envoys
Bardello
Boesio
Mergozzo Canal
Cannobino
Erno
Fraud of Caldè
Fraud of Porto Valtravaglia
Jonah
Maggia
Molinera
Monvallina
Riale Corto
Riale del Molino
Riale del Roddo
Riale di Casere
Rio Ballona
Rio Colmegnino (or Rio di Colmegna)
Rio Colorio
Rio dell'Asino
Rio Molinetto
Rio Valmara
Rone
San Bernardino
Saint John
San Giovanni di Bedero
Thick Forest
Stronetta
Tiasca
Ticino
Toce
Aquanegra stream
Tresa
Trigo
Versella or Varesella
Verzasca
Vevera
Geology
The origin of Lake Maggiore is partly glacial, as evidenced by the layout of the hills formed by moraine deposits of a glacial nature, but it is ascertained that the glacial excavation took place on a pre-existing river valley, the profile of the lake in fact has the typical V shape of river valleys.
Baveno pink granite was widely used as a building material in the past . Furthermore, the ancient construction uses of Angera stone are known (used for example in classical antiquity and in the medieval period), while the Caldè limestone quarries provided for many centuries the raw material for the lime with which high-rise buildings were built. Lombardy and Piedmont: thanks to the ease of transport by boat, first on the lake, then on the Milanese canals
Lake Maggiore is characterized by cold winters, but milder than inland, and moderately snowy (with average accumulations of 10 cm for each snowfall and sometimes even higher than 30 cm up to a maximum of 50 cm), summers are moderately hot, humid and stormy, the average temperature in January is around 2 degrees centigrade, with peaks of 3 degrees on the northern side of the Borromean Gulf (due to the extensive exposure to the sun), night temperatures can drop below 0, up to -10, but very rarely go below this value. In summer the average temperatures are around 22 degrees centigrade, with daytime peaks rarely exceeding 32 degrees. Proceeding towards the internal valleys the temperatures gradually become more rigid. The area is very rainy and sometimes, especially in intermediate seasons, floods can occur. The temperature of the surface waters (up to 2 meters deep) of the lake reach winter peaks of 5-6 degrees, while in summer they reach an average of 22-24 degrees.
Some statistics on Lake Maggiore . It should be noted that during lean periods the water level between Locarno and Sesto Calende can vary by 1 cm, while during floods up to 30 cm
Like all pre-Alpine lakes, Lake Maggiore is crossed, especially in the summer, by two types of prevailing winds, one which blows in the morning from the mountains towards the plain (called moscendrino as it comes from the Monte Ceneri Pass , sometimes tramontana ) and a small breeze that blows from the plain to the mountains especially during the afternoon (called inverna ). These constant winds make the pre-Alpine lakes an excellent field for practicing sports that use the wind, such as sailing and windsurfing . Lake Maggiore has some particular points, especially in the upper part, where the mountains squeeze together to form a narrow valley in which these winds blow very strongly.
Then there are other winds typical of this lake such as the winter wind , which blows from the south-west and generally brings storms, the major one , which comes from the north-east and is very dangerous as it agitates the lake a lot, the valmaggine which blows slightly from the valleys behind Locarno , the mergozzo , which blows especially at night, from the north-west
In Lake Maggiore there are many large, small or tiny islands , divided between 8 in Piedmont, 2 in Switzerland and 2 in Lombardy, for a total of 12.
Borromean Islands
Beautiful island
Isola Madre
Isola dei Pescatori (or Isola Superiore or Isola Superiore dei Pescatori)
Islet of San Giovanni
Malghera islet (or rock).
Brissago Islands
San Pancrazio Island (or Big Island)
Island of Sant'Apollinare (or Isolino)
Castles of Cannero
Isolino Partegora
Sasso Galletto
Between Stresa and Verbania there is the Borromean archipelago: Isola Madre (the largest in the lake basin), Isola Bella and Isola Superiore dei Pescatori (also known more simply as Isola dei Pescatori or Isola Superiore)
Opposite the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona are the two islands of Brissago, the larger of which hosts a botanical garden.
In front of the coast of Cannero Riviera there are the three emerged rocks called Castelli di Cannero: the major rock, totally occupied today by the Vitaliana war artefact, a fortress commissioned by Count Ludovico Borromeo starting from 1518, the minor rock, on which the ruins of the so-called "prisons" stand, but in fact a small advanced tower with a falconette gunboat garrisoning the southern canal port, and finally the little rock (towards Maccagno ) of the "Melgonaro", on which only a stunted but tenacious plant grows fascinated poets and engravers such as Piero Chiara , Marco Costantini , Carlo Rapp .
Finally, we must mention the small island of San Giovanni in front of Verbania (famous because it was the residence of the orchestra director Arturo Toscanini in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Borromeo for many years ), the small island of La Malghera also known as Isola delle Bambole , among 'Isola Bella and that of the Fishermen and therefore the Isolino Partegora in the small gulf of Angera .
History:
The finds and evidence found tell us that following the actual creation of the lake, with the complete retreat of the ice, the surrounding area was inhabited by nomadic groups , who used the territory mainly as a place for hunting and supplies.
In the Chalcolithic historical period, the first residential areas were built in the immediate vicinity of the lake and from that moment there was a slow consolidation of sedentary groups .
On the shores of the lake, the Golasecca culture developed between the 9th and 4th centuries BC , a Celtic -speaking Iron Age civilization . The Golasecchians advanced as far as some areas of present-day Lombardy , only to be pushed back again to their western borders by the descent of the Celts into the Italian peninsula , probably the population of the Taurine Gauls .
The Gauls therefore had supremacy over the lake territory until the advance of the Romans who turned the Piedmont and Lombard areas back into provinces of the empire . The " Verbanus Lacus " (name given to it by the Romans, from which the nomenclature Lake Verbano will probably derive ) or " Lacus Maximus " (another name even attributed to it by Virgil ) will remain firmly in the hands of the Roman Empire . In Roman times, navigation along the lake experienced particular development, so much so that ships could descend the Ticino and thus reach Pavia , from where they could reach, thanks to the Po , as far as the Adriatic Sea . It is no coincidence that the excavations of the Angera settlement have brought to light finds that show strong connections between the lake and the upper Adriatic. This shipping line experienced particular development during the early Middle Ages , when Pavia was the capital of the Lombard kingdom first and then of the kingdom of Italy.
To arrive at a period of rebirth of the cities on the lake we had to wait until the Middle Ages , which led to the creation of villages, castles and in general a very different example of the physiognomy of inhabited places.
In this period the area around the lake, as well as numerous territories in the surroundings of Milan , passed into the hands of various families such as the Della Torre , the Visconti , the ruling house of the Habsburgs from 1713 and in particular the Borromeo family , which had enormous influence for many years on Lake Maggiore, starting from the acquisition of the fiefdom of Arona in 1445. Another very illustrious lineage that had a great influence in the medieval era is that of the Marquises Morigi or Moriggia, who received numerous territories from the Viscontis such as the degagne of San Maurizio and San Martino, the Valtravaglia which were nicknamed "Morigie lands". Over the centuries the families of Borromeo and Morigi fought bitterly for hegemony over these lands. The Borromeo themselves also had, between 1523 and 1524, actual armed clashes against Francesco II Sforza who on several occasions sent troops and armed ships against the Borromeo fortresses located on the islands of Cannero . Other noble families linked to the territory since the Middle Ages were the Besozzi , the Sessa , the Luini and the Capitanei of Locarno.
Starting from the 14th century, navigation along the lake was also exploited to transport the heavy blocks of marble coming from Candoglia and other quarries located in the surroundings of the lake towards the two main Lombard construction sites of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: the cathedral of Milan and the Charterhouse of Pavia
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture, and its artwork.The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region.
About this portion of the journey:
LUCERNE – VENICE
Traverse the Alps into Italy via the scenic St. Gotthard route and catch a glimpse of Lake Como. Skirt the sprawling commercial capital, Milan, arriving later in the region of Venice, a historically wealthy city built across 118 islands in a marshy lagoon.
VENICE ORIENTATION – FLORENCE
Cruise by private launch to St. Mark's Square and see the sumptuous Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Watch the Venetian craftsmen at work creating local specialities at a glassblowing workshop. Afterwards, you might like to take an optional experience to Burano Island for a delightful lunch. Cross the Apennine Mountains, arriving later in Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance.
For more information on the city of Venice / Venezia visit:
www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/ID...
For more information on visiting Italy www.italia.it/en/home.html
Trafalgar Travel
London to Rome Highlights Tour
October 16th 2014 returning to New York City on Sunday October 26th 2014
Eleven day tour visiting four countries
London, England, UK United Kingdom (2 nights)
Paris, France (2 nights)
Lucerne, Switzerland (1 night)
Venice, Italy (1 night)
Florence, Italy (1 night)
Rome, Italy (2 nights)
costsaver.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/london-to-rome-highligh...
For more on Trafalgar Travel
866-513-1995
Hashtag metadata tag
#Venice #VeniceItaly #VeniceItalia #Venezia #VeneziaItaly #VeneziaItalia #ItalianRepublic #RepubblicaItaliana #Europe #Italian #Italy #Italia #Europe #European #TiAmoItaly #TiAmoItalia #TiAmoVenice #TiAmoVenezia #Veneto #WorldHeritage #WorldHeritageSite #HeritageSite #Italiana
Photo
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana country, Europe continent
Rome / Roma city, Italy / Italia country, Europe continent
October 23rd 2014
Lake Maggiore or Verbano ( Lagh Magior in Lombard and Piedmontese ) is a pre-Alpine lake of fluvioglacial origin in the Italian geographical region . Its shores are shared between Switzerland ( Canton Ticino ) and Italy (provinces of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Novara , in Piedmont , and Varese , in Lombardy ).
The name Maggiore derives from the fact that it is the largest of the lakes in the area, but among the Italian lakes it is the second in surface area after Lake Garda (as well as the second in depth after Lake Como ). In the past it was joined to Lake Mergozzo , from which it was separated due to the formation of the Fondotoce Plain .
Lake Maggiore is located at a height of approximately 193 meters above sea level . Its surface area is 212 km² , most of which, approximately 80%, is in Italian territory. It has a perimeter of 170 km and a length of 64.37 km (the largest among Italian lakes); the maximum width is 10 km and the average width is 3.9 km. The volume of water contained is equal to 37.5 billion m³ with a theoretical replacement time of approximately 4 years. The hydrographic basin is approximately 6,598 km² of which 3,229 are in Italian territory and 3,369 in Swiss territory (the ratio between the surface area of the basin and that of the lake is 31.1). The maximum altitude of the catchment basin is Punta Dufour in the Monte Rosa massif (4,633 m above sea level), while the average altitude is 1,270 m above sea level. The basin is characterized by the existence of around thirty artificial reservoirs with a collection of approximately 600 million of m³ of water which, if released simultaneously, would raise the lake level by approximately 2.5 m. The maximum depth is approximately 370 m (in the cryptodepression between Ghiffa and Porto Valtravaglia ) which is therefore 177 m below sea level.
The major tributaries are the Ticino , the Maggia , the Toce (which receives the waters of the Strona torrent and therefore of Lake Orta ) and the Tresa (in turn an emissary of Lake Lugano and fed by the Margorabbia ). The major tributaries have a different flow pattern, while Ticino and Toce, which have a catchment basin at high altitudes, reach a maximum flow in the period between May and October coinciding with the melting of snow and glaciers ; the other tributaries have a trend strongly influenced by rainfall . Minor tributaries are the Verzasca , Cannobino , San Bernardino , San Giovanni , Giona and Boesio streams . The only emissary is the Ticino which flows from the lake to Sesto Calende .
Envoys
Bardello
Boesio
Mergozzo Canal
Cannobino
Erno
Fraud of Caldè
Fraud of Porto Valtravaglia
Jonah
Maggia
Molinera
Monvallina
Riale Corto
Riale del Molino
Riale del Roddo
Riale di Casere
Rio Ballona
Rio Colmegnino (or Rio di Colmegna)
Rio Colorio
Rio dell'Asino
Rio Molinetto
Rio Valmara
Rone
San Bernardino
Saint John
San Giovanni di Bedero
Thick Forest
Stronetta
Tiasca
Ticino
Toce
Aquanegra stream
Tresa
Trigo
Versella or Varesella
Verzasca
Vevera
Geology
The origin of Lake Maggiore is partly glacial, as evidenced by the layout of the hills formed by moraine deposits of a glacial nature, but it is ascertained that the glacial excavation took place on a pre-existing river valley, the profile of the lake in fact has the typical V shape of river valleys.
Baveno pink granite was widely used as a building material in the past . Furthermore, the ancient construction uses of Angera stone are known (used for example in classical antiquity and in the medieval period), while the Caldè limestone quarries provided for many centuries the raw material for the lime with which high-rise buildings were built. Lombardy and Piedmont: thanks to the ease of transport by boat, first on the lake, then on the Milanese canals
Lake Maggiore is characterized by cold winters, but milder than inland, and moderately snowy (with average accumulations of 10 cm for each snowfall and sometimes even higher than 30 cm up to a maximum of 50 cm), summers are moderately hot, humid and stormy, the average temperature in January is around 2 degrees centigrade, with peaks of 3 degrees on the northern side of the Borromean Gulf (due to the extensive exposure to the sun), night temperatures can drop below 0, up to -10, but very rarely go below this value. In summer the average temperatures are around 22 degrees centigrade, with daytime peaks rarely exceeding 32 degrees. Proceeding towards the internal valleys the temperatures gradually become more rigid. The area is very rainy and sometimes, especially in intermediate seasons, floods can occur. The temperature of the surface waters (up to 2 meters deep) of the lake reach winter peaks of 5-6 degrees, while in summer they reach an average of 22-24 degrees.
Some statistics on Lake Maggiore . It should be noted that during lean periods the water level between Locarno and Sesto Calende can vary by 1 cm, while during floods up to 30 cm
Like all pre-Alpine lakes, Lake Maggiore is crossed, especially in the summer, by two types of prevailing winds, one which blows in the morning from the mountains towards the plain (called moscendrino as it comes from the Monte Ceneri Pass , sometimes tramontana ) and a small breeze that blows from the plain to the mountains especially during the afternoon (called inverna ). These constant winds make the pre-Alpine lakes an excellent field for practicing sports that use the wind, such as sailing and windsurfing . Lake Maggiore has some particular points, especially in the upper part, where the mountains squeeze together to form a narrow valley in which these winds blow very strongly.
Then there are other winds typical of this lake such as the winter wind , which blows from the south-west and generally brings storms, the major one , which comes from the north-east and is very dangerous as it agitates the lake a lot, the valmaggine which blows slightly from the valleys behind Locarno , the mergozzo , which blows especially at night, from the north-west
In Lake Maggiore there are many large, small or tiny islands , divided between 8 in Piedmont, 2 in Switzerland and 2 in Lombardy, for a total of 12.
Borromean Islands
Beautiful island
Isola Madre
Isola dei Pescatori (or Isola Superiore or Isola Superiore dei Pescatori)
Islet of San Giovanni
Malghera islet (or rock).
Brissago Islands
San Pancrazio Island (or Big Island)
Island of Sant'Apollinare (or Isolino)
Castles of Cannero
Isolino Partegora
Sasso Galletto
Between Stresa and Verbania there is the Borromean archipelago: Isola Madre (the largest in the lake basin), Isola Bella and Isola Superiore dei Pescatori (also known more simply as Isola dei Pescatori or Isola Superiore)
Opposite the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona are the two islands of Brissago, the larger of which hosts a botanical garden.
In front of the coast of Cannero Riviera there are the three emerged rocks called Castelli di Cannero: the major rock, totally occupied today by the Vitaliana war artefact, a fortress commissioned by Count Ludovico Borromeo starting from 1518, the minor rock, on which the ruins of the so-called "prisons" stand, but in fact a small advanced tower with a falconette gunboat garrisoning the southern canal port, and finally the little rock (towards Maccagno ) of the "Melgonaro", on which only a stunted but tenacious plant grows fascinated poets and engravers such as Piero Chiara , Marco Costantini , Carlo Rapp .
Finally, we must mention the small island of San Giovanni in front of Verbania (famous because it was the residence of the orchestra director Arturo Toscanini in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Borromeo for many years ), the small island of La Malghera also known as Isola delle Bambole , among 'Isola Bella and that of the Fishermen and therefore the Isolino Partegora in the small gulf of Angera .
History:
The finds and evidence found tell us that following the actual creation of the lake, with the complete retreat of the ice, the surrounding area was inhabited by nomadic groups , who used the territory mainly as a place for hunting and supplies.
In the Chalcolithic historical period, the first residential areas were built in the immediate vicinity of the lake and from that moment there was a slow consolidation of sedentary groups .
On the shores of the lake, the Golasecca culture developed between the 9th and 4th centuries BC , a Celtic -speaking Iron Age civilization . The Golasecchians advanced as far as some areas of present-day Lombardy , only to be pushed back again to their western borders by the descent of the Celts into the Italian peninsula , probably the population of the Taurine Gauls .
The Gauls therefore had supremacy over the lake territory until the advance of the Romans who turned the Piedmont and Lombard areas back into provinces of the empire . The " Verbanus Lacus " (name given to it by the Romans, from which the nomenclature Lake Verbano will probably derive ) or " Lacus Maximus " (another name even attributed to it by Virgil ) will remain firmly in the hands of the Roman Empire . In Roman times, navigation along the lake experienced particular development, so much so that ships could descend the Ticino and thus reach Pavia , from where they could reach, thanks to the Po , as far as the Adriatic Sea . It is no coincidence that the excavations of the Angera settlement have brought to light finds that show strong connections between the lake and the upper Adriatic. This shipping line experienced particular development during the early Middle Ages , when Pavia was the capital of the Lombard kingdom first and then of the kingdom of Italy.
To arrive at a period of rebirth of the cities on the lake we had to wait until the Middle Ages , which led to the creation of villages, castles and in general a very different example of the physiognomy of inhabited places.
In this period the area around the lake, as well as numerous territories in the surroundings of Milan , passed into the hands of various families such as the Della Torre , the Visconti , the ruling house of the Habsburgs from 1713 and in particular the Borromeo family , which had enormous influence for many years on Lake Maggiore, starting from the acquisition of the fiefdom of Arona in 1445. Another very illustrious lineage that had a great influence in the medieval era is that of the Marquises Morigi or Moriggia, who received numerous territories from the Viscontis such as the degagne of San Maurizio and San Martino, the Valtravaglia which were nicknamed "Morigie lands". Over the centuries the families of Borromeo and Morigi fought bitterly for hegemony over these lands. The Borromeo themselves also had, between 1523 and 1524, actual armed clashes against Francesco II Sforza who on several occasions sent troops and armed ships against the Borromeo fortresses located on the islands of Cannero . Other noble families linked to the territory since the Middle Ages were the Besozzi , the Sessa , the Luini and the Capitanei of Locarno.
Starting from the 14th century, navigation along the lake was also exploited to transport the heavy blocks of marble coming from Candoglia and other quarries located in the surroundings of the lake towards the two main Lombard construction sites of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: the cathedral of Milan and the Charterhouse of Pavia
Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).
Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".
The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:
Wet with cool dew drops
fragrant with perfume from the flowers
came the gentle breeze
jasmine and water lily
dance in the spring sunshine
side-long glances
of the golden-hued ladies
stab into my thoughts
heaven itself cannot take my mind
as it has been captivated by one lass
among the five hundred I have seen here.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.
There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.
Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.
The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.
In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".
Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’
Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.
Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
Main article: Commercial graffiti
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".
Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.
Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.
The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.
Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis
Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"
Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal
In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.
Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.
Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.
Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.
Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.
Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.
In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.
A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.
In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.
A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.
In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.
In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."
In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.
In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.
In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.
In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.
The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.
In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.
In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.
One more Pic of Ponte delle Guglie across Canale di Cannaregio / Cannaregio Canal
w. Palazzo da Mosto, Campanile / Bell Tower of Chiesa di San Geremia Profeta / Church of St. Jeremy or Jeremiah the Prophet
Look back across Canale di Cannaregio / Cannaregio Canal tow. Isola San Geremia w. Ponte delle Guglie, Palazzo Labia, Campanile / Bell Tower of Chiesa di San Geremia Profeta / Church of St. Jeremy or Jeremiah the Prophet 02/02
Ryan Janek Wolowski visiting Ristorante Centrale Pizzeria in Venice / Venezia, Italy / Italia, The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture, and its artwork.The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region.
About this portion of the journey:
LUCERNE – VENICE
Traverse the Alps into Italy via the scenic St. Gotthard route and catch a glimpse of Lake Como. Skirt the sprawling commercial capital, Milan, arriving later in the region of Venice, a historically wealthy city built across 118 islands in a marshy lagoon.
VENICE ORIENTATION – FLORENCE
Cruise by private launch to St. Mark's Square and see the sumptuous Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Watch the Venetian craftsmen at work creating local specialities at a glassblowing workshop. Afterwards, you might like to take an optional experience to Burano Island for a delightful lunch. Cross the Apennine Mountains, arriving later in Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance.
For more information on the city of Venice / Venezia visit:
www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/ID...
For more information on visiting Italy www.italia.it/en/home.html
Trafalgar Travel
London to Rome Highlights Tour
October 16th 2014 returning to New York City on Sunday October 26th 2014
Eleven day tour visiting four countries
London, England, UK United Kingdom (2 nights)
Paris, France (2 nights)
Lucerne, Switzerland (1 night)
Venice, Italy (1 night)
Florence, Italy (1 night)
Rome, Italy (2 nights)
costsaver.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/london-to-rome-highligh...
For more on Trafalgar Travel
866-513-1995
Hashtag metadata tag
#Venice #VeniceItaly #VeniceItalia #Venezia #VeneziaItaly #VeneziaItalia #ItalianRepublic #RepubblicaItaliana #Europe #Italian #Italy #Italia #Europe #European #TiAmoItaly #TiAmoItalia #TiAmoVenice #TiAmoVenezia #Veneto #WorldHeritage #WorldHeritageSite #HeritageSite #Italiana
Photo
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana country, Europe continent
Rome / Roma city, Italy / Italia country, Europe continent
October 23rd 2014
Theresa Irene Wolowski visiting Ristorante Centrale Pizzeria in Venice / Venezia, Italy / Italia, The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture, and its artwork.The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region.
About this portion of the journey:
LUCERNE – VENICE
Traverse the Alps into Italy via the scenic St. Gotthard route and catch a glimpse of Lake Como. Skirt the sprawling commercial capital, Milan, arriving later in the region of Venice, a historically wealthy city built across 118 islands in a marshy lagoon.
VENICE ORIENTATION – FLORENCE
Cruise by private launch to St. Mark's Square and see the sumptuous Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Watch the Venetian craftsmen at work creating local specialities at a glassblowing workshop. Afterwards, you might like to take an optional experience to Burano Island for a delightful lunch. Cross the Apennine Mountains, arriving later in Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance.
For more information on the city of Venice / Venezia visit:
www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/ID...
For more information on visiting Italy www.italia.it/en/home.html
Trafalgar Travel
London to Rome Highlights Tour
October 16th 2014 returning to New York City on Sunday October 26th 2014
Eleven day tour visiting four countries
London, England, UK United Kingdom (2 nights)
Paris, France (2 nights)
Lucerne, Switzerland (1 night)
Venice, Italy (1 night)
Florence, Italy (1 night)
Rome, Italy (2 nights)
costsaver.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/london-to-rome-highligh...
For more on Trafalgar Travel
866-513-1995
Hashtag metadata tag
#Venice #VeniceItaly #VeniceItalia #Venezia #VeneziaItaly #VeneziaItalia #ItalianRepublic #RepubblicaItaliana #Europe #Italian #Italy #Italia #Europe #European #TiAmoItaly #TiAmoItalia #TiAmoVenice #TiAmoVenezia #Veneto #WorldHeritage #WorldHeritageSite #HeritageSite #Italiana
Photo
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana country, Europe continent
Rome / Roma city, Italy / Italia country, Europe continent
October 23rd 2014
Palazzo Trevisan Cappello, Calle Seconda de la Fava 4301, 30122 Venezia VE, IT 03/03
w. Rio de la Canonica aka Rio del Palazzo, Ponte dei Cappelli, Ponte dei Consorzi
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Look back across Canale di Cannaregio / Cannaregio Canal tow. Isola San Geremia w. Ponte delle Guglie, Palazzo Labia, Campanile / Bell Tower of Chiesa di San Geremia Profeta / Church of St. Jeremy or Jeremiah the Prophet 01/02
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Fontego dei Tedeschi / Fondaco dei Tedeschi / Warehouse of the Germans, Calle del Fontego dei Tedeschi, San Marco, 30100 Venezia VE, IT 69/80
Venezia / Venice 360° - Terrazza Panoramica / Panoramic Rooftop Terrace Views 65/72
w. (Front:) Canal Grande / Grand Canal, Ponte di Rialto / Rialto Bridge, Palazzo dei Dieci Savi, Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, Fabbriche Vecchie di Rialto, Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto, Canal Grande / Grand Canal, (Back:) Campanile / Bell Tower of Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Carmini o del Carmelo/ Church of St. Mary of of the Carmelite (Dorsoduro), Campanile della Chiesa di San Silvestro / Bell Tower of Church of St. Sylvester, Campanile della Chiesa Rettoriale di San Paolo Apostolo / Bell Tower of Rectorial Church of St. Paul of the Apostle aka San Polo, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari / Basilica of Glorious St. Mary of the Brothers (San Polo), Campanile della Chiesa di Sant'Aponal / Bell Tower of Church of St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, Chiesa di San Nicola da Tolentino / Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Santa Croce), Cupole della Chiesa di San Simeone e Giuda vulgo San Simeon Piccolo / Domes of Church of Sts. Simeon and Jude, Campanile della Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario / Bell Tower of Church of St. John the Merciful or the Almsgiver, Campanile della Chiesa di San Cassiano / Bell Tower of Church of St. Cassian, Chiesa di San Geremia Profeta / Church of St. Jeremy or Jeremiah the Prophet w. Campanile / Bell Tower, Top of Campanile della Chiesa di Santa Fosca / Bell Tower of Church of St. Fusca of Ravenna
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.
It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Many famous people have owned homes on the shores of Lake Como.
One of its particularities is its "Y" shape, which forms the "Larian Triangle", with the little town of Canzo as its capital.
In 2014, The Huffington Post described it as the most beautiful lake in the world for its microclimate and environment with prestigious villas and villages.
Etymology
The lake's name in Latin is Larius, Italianized as Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como (literally "lake of Como"). Its name comes from the city of Como, known to the Romans as Comum.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like an inverted letter "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a boat service operates a triangular route between them.
Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake (between Como, Bellagio, and Lecco) is known as the Larian Triangle, or Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità Montana del Triangolo lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities that represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Como lake in Italy
Lake Como's climate is humid subtropical (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification system). In winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region. Average daily temperatures range from ~3.7 °C (39 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74 °F) in July, according to historical weather data from Como. Water temperatures can reach an average of 24 °C (75 °F) in July. Snowfall is erratic and occurs mainly at higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.
History
At the beginning of the first millennium B.C. during the Iron Age, the Comum oppidum was born and the civilization of Como developed, inserted in the broader Golasecca culture. In 196 B.C. the army of the consul Claudius Marcellus defeats the Celts tribe of the Comenses and conquers the city. Comum was then strengthened and rebuilt after a raid by Rhaetian and repopulated with 3,000 settlers in 77 BC. Finally, after having reclaimed the marshy area, in 59 B.C. it was re-founded with the name of Novum Comun in its current location on the lake shore at the behest of Gaius Julius Caesar.[6] Pliny the Younger, in one of his Epistulae, describes the lake and its surrounding area as providing plentiful opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, at least since the 4th century, a Praefectus commanding a Roman military fleet was present on the lake.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the waters of the lake were the scene of military clashes, such as in the 12th century during the war of Milan against Como, which saw the Como fleet in action against the ships of the Milanese and their allies or between 1525 and 1532 due to the Musso war unleashed by Gian Giacomo Medici
On 28 April 1945, deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed in the lakeside village of Giulino, about 180 metres (590 ft) from the waterfront.
Tourism and Economy
As a tourist destination, Lake Como is popular for its landscapes, wildlife, and spas. It is a venue for sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing.
Although generally considered safe, bathers aiming to find relief from the heat and swimming enthusiasts alike should exercise caution, as a prevailing regulation prohibits diving and swimming both in the city of Como and in the various small villages along the lake. Exceptions are found only in privately managed lidos or designated public beaches where explicit signage permits swimming activities. This prohibition stems from the danger posed by the lake's waters that swiftly transition from shallow to deep near the shoreline and from unpredictable aquatic conditions, which have led to numerous incidents, including drowning cases attributed to sudden thermal shock.
In the area surrounding Lake Como, there are several farms which produce goods such as honey, olive oil, cheese, milk, eggs and salamis. Visitors can find lists of these farms and typically visit the farm itself in person to make their purchases.
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas that have been built there since Roman times when Pliny the Younger built the Comedia and the Tragedia resorts. Many villas on the lake shores have admirable gardens that benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilizing presence of 22.5 cubic kilometres (5.4 cu mi) of lake water and can sustain many subtropical and Mediterranean plants.
Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese Marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 7 hectares (17 acres) at Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden (with steps, fountains, and sculptures) was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to powerful banker and Napoleonic politician Giovanni Battista Sommariva. Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of La Chartreuse de Parme. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen, laid out the woodland landscape park in Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva's friend Antonio Canova and by Luigi Acquisti.
Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–1817 the villa was home to Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century, it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d'Este is known for attracting celebrity guests.[citation needed]
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near Isola Comacina. Built-in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.[citation needed]
Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio was built in neo-classical style by architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–1810 as the summer residence of Duke Francesco Melzi d'Eril, who was vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. The park includes an orangery, a private chapel, fine statues, and a Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on Lake Como, with huge rhododendrons. 19th-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and Franz Liszt.
Villa Serbelloni, also in Bellagio, hosts the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) international conference centre set up and managed by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which also operates a "scholar-in-residence" program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger's villa "Tragedia". Its well-known park was created at the end of the 18th century by Alessandro Serbelloni.[citation needed]
Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, Pierina Legnani, Lionel Messi and José Mourinho.
Ferries
The Lake Como ferry service is a highly developed public transport system linking the many small towns around the Lake. A motorized service began in 1826 when a steamship with sails, the Lario, was launched by the newly established Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto. Since 1952 the system has been run under the auspices of a government organization called first the Gestione Commissariale Governativa and subsequently the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi, which is also responsible for services on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda.
Today there are three main services:
Motorship services along the western branch and northern end of the Lake (between Colico or Piona and Como town), with additional shuttles to the mid-lake area.
Fast services that follow broadly the same route, but use faster hydrofoils, stop less frequently, and cost extra.
Ferries that run only between the popular mid-lake villages of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna, plus Cadenabbia. Some of these boats carry vehicles as well as passengers.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio ("Holy Mount of Ossuccio") is a sanctuary located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing Isola Comacina. Fifteen Baroque-inspiredchapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 2003, the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, including that of Ossuccio, were added by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
Villages, resorts, and other notable localities near the lake
Cities and villages on Lake Como
Western shore
from North to SouthSouth shore
from West to EastEastern shore
from North to South
Domaso
Gravedona
Dongo
Musso
Menaggio
Cadenabbia
Griante
Tremezzo
Mezzegra
Lenno
Ossuccio
Sala Comacina
Colonno
Argegno
Brienno
Moltrasio
Cernobbio
Como
Como
Blevio
Brunate
Torno
Nesso
Bellagio
Malgrate
Lecco
Colico
Dorio
Dervio
Bellano
Varenna
Lierna
Mandello del Lario
Lecco
In literature and the arts
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Lake of Como was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, in 1837. It illustrates a painting by Samuel Prout, engraved by William Miller.
In 1818 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Thomas Love Peacock: "This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty, except the arbutus islands of Killarney. It is long and narrow, and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests."
S Banks of Rio de la Madona de l'Orto w. Ponte de la Sacca (far left), Palazzo Mastelli del Cammello b
Lake Maggiore or Verbano ( Lagh Magior in Lombard and Piedmontese ) is a pre-Alpine lake of fluvioglacial origin in the Italian geographical region . Its shores are shared between Switzerland ( Canton Ticino ) and Italy (provinces of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Novara , in Piedmont , and Varese , in Lombardy ).
The name Maggiore derives from the fact that it is the largest of the lakes in the area, but among the Italian lakes it is the second in surface area after Lake Garda (as well as the second in depth after Lake Como ). In the past it was joined to Lake Mergozzo , from which it was separated due to the formation of the Fondotoce Plain .
Lake Maggiore is located at a height of approximately 193 meters above sea level . Its surface area is 212 km² , most of which, approximately 80%, is in Italian territory. It has a perimeter of 170 km and a length of 64.37 km (the largest among Italian lakes); the maximum width is 10 km and the average width is 3.9 km. The volume of water contained is equal to 37.5 billion m³ with a theoretical replacement time of approximately 4 years. The hydrographic basin is approximately 6,598 km² of which 3,229 are in Italian territory and 3,369 in Swiss territory (the ratio between the surface area of the basin and that of the lake is 31.1). The maximum altitude of the catchment basin is Punta Dufour in the Monte Rosa massif (4,633 m above sea level), while the average altitude is 1,270 m above sea level. The basin is characterized by the existence of around thirty artificial reservoirs with a collection of approximately 600 million of m³ of water which, if released simultaneously, would raise the lake level by approximately 2.5 m. The maximum depth is approximately 370 m (in the cryptodepression between Ghiffa and Porto Valtravaglia ) which is therefore 177 m below sea level.
The major tributaries are the Ticino , the Maggia , the Toce (which receives the waters of the Strona torrent and therefore of Lake Orta ) and the Tresa (in turn an emissary of Lake Lugano and fed by the Margorabbia ). The major tributaries have a different flow pattern, while Ticino and Toce, which have a catchment basin at high altitudes, reach a maximum flow in the period between May and October coinciding with the melting of snow and glaciers ; the other tributaries have a trend strongly influenced by rainfall . Minor tributaries are the Verzasca , Cannobino , San Bernardino , San Giovanni , Giona and Boesio streams . The only emissary is the Ticino which flows from the lake to Sesto Calende .
Envoys
Bardello
Boesio
Mergozzo Canal
Cannobino
Erno
Fraud of Caldè
Fraud of Porto Valtravaglia
Jonah
Maggia
Molinera
Monvallina
Riale Corto
Riale del Molino
Riale del Roddo
Riale di Casere
Rio Ballona
Rio Colmegnino (or Rio di Colmegna)
Rio Colorio
Rio dell'Asino
Rio Molinetto
Rio Valmara
Rone
San Bernardino
Saint John
San Giovanni di Bedero
Thick Forest
Stronetta
Tiasca
Ticino
Toce
Aquanegra stream
Tresa
Trigo
Versella or Varesella
Verzasca
Vevera
Geology
The origin of Lake Maggiore is partly glacial, as evidenced by the layout of the hills formed by moraine deposits of a glacial nature, but it is ascertained that the glacial excavation took place on a pre-existing river valley, the profile of the lake in fact has the typical V shape of river valleys.
Baveno pink granite was widely used as a building material in the past . Furthermore, the ancient construction uses of Angera stone are known (used for example in classical antiquity and in the medieval period), while the Caldè limestone quarries provided for many centuries the raw material for the lime with which high-rise buildings were built. Lombardy and Piedmont: thanks to the ease of transport by boat, first on the lake, then on the Milanese canals
Lake Maggiore is characterized by cold winters, but milder than inland, and moderately snowy (with average accumulations of 10 cm for each snowfall and sometimes even higher than 30 cm up to a maximum of 50 cm), summers are moderately hot, humid and stormy, the average temperature in January is around 2 degrees centigrade, with peaks of 3 degrees on the northern side of the Borromean Gulf (due to the extensive exposure to the sun), night temperatures can drop below 0, up to -10, but very rarely go below this value. In summer the average temperatures are around 22 degrees centigrade, with daytime peaks rarely exceeding 32 degrees. Proceeding towards the internal valleys the temperatures gradually become more rigid. The area is very rainy and sometimes, especially in intermediate seasons, floods can occur. The temperature of the surface waters (up to 2 meters deep) of the lake reach winter peaks of 5-6 degrees, while in summer they reach an average of 22-24 degrees.
Some statistics on Lake Maggiore . It should be noted that during lean periods the water level between Locarno and Sesto Calende can vary by 1 cm, while during floods up to 30 cm
Like all pre-Alpine lakes, Lake Maggiore is crossed, especially in the summer, by two types of prevailing winds, one which blows in the morning from the mountains towards the plain (called moscendrino as it comes from the Monte Ceneri Pass , sometimes tramontana ) and a small breeze that blows from the plain to the mountains especially during the afternoon (called inverna ). These constant winds make the pre-Alpine lakes an excellent field for practicing sports that use the wind, such as sailing and windsurfing . Lake Maggiore has some particular points, especially in the upper part, where the mountains squeeze together to form a narrow valley in which these winds blow very strongly.
Then there are other winds typical of this lake such as the winter wind , which blows from the south-west and generally brings storms, the major one , which comes from the north-east and is very dangerous as it agitates the lake a lot, the valmaggine which blows slightly from the valleys behind Locarno , the mergozzo , which blows especially at night, from the north-west
In Lake Maggiore there are many large, small or tiny islands , divided between 8 in Piedmont, 2 in Switzerland and 2 in Lombardy, for a total of 12.
Borromean Islands
Beautiful island
Isola Madre
Isola dei Pescatori (or Isola Superiore or Isola Superiore dei Pescatori)
Islet of San Giovanni
Malghera islet (or rock).
Brissago Islands
San Pancrazio Island (or Big Island)
Island of Sant'Apollinare (or Isolino)
Castles of Cannero
Isolino Partegora
Sasso Galletto
Between Stresa and Verbania there is the Borromean archipelago: Isola Madre (the largest in the lake basin), Isola Bella and Isola Superiore dei Pescatori (also known more simply as Isola dei Pescatori or Isola Superiore)
Opposite the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona are the two islands of Brissago, the larger of which hosts a botanical garden.
In front of the coast of Cannero Riviera there are the three emerged rocks called Castelli di Cannero: the major rock, totally occupied today by the Vitaliana war artefact, a fortress commissioned by Count Ludovico Borromeo starting from 1518, the minor rock, on which the ruins of the so-called "prisons" stand, but in fact a small advanced tower with a falconette gunboat garrisoning the southern canal port, and finally the little rock (towards Maccagno ) of the "Melgonaro", on which only a stunted but tenacious plant grows fascinated poets and engravers such as Piero Chiara , Marco Costantini , Carlo Rapp .
Finally, we must mention the small island of San Giovanni in front of Verbania (famous because it was the residence of the orchestra director Arturo Toscanini in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Borromeo for many years ), the small island of La Malghera also known as Isola delle Bambole , among 'Isola Bella and that of the Fishermen and therefore the Isolino Partegora in the small gulf of Angera .
History:
The finds and evidence found tell us that following the actual creation of the lake, with the complete retreat of the ice, the surrounding area was inhabited by nomadic groups , who used the territory mainly as a place for hunting and supplies.
In the Chalcolithic historical period, the first residential areas were built in the immediate vicinity of the lake and from that moment there was a slow consolidation of sedentary groups .
On the shores of the lake, the Golasecca culture developed between the 9th and 4th centuries BC , a Celtic -speaking Iron Age civilization . The Golasecchians advanced as far as some areas of present-day Lombardy , only to be pushed back again to their western borders by the descent of the Celts into the Italian peninsula , probably the population of the Taurine Gauls .
The Gauls therefore had supremacy over the lake territory until the advance of the Romans who turned the Piedmont and Lombard areas back into provinces of the empire . The " Verbanus Lacus " (name given to it by the Romans, from which the nomenclature Lake Verbano will probably derive ) or " Lacus Maximus " (another name even attributed to it by Virgil ) will remain firmly in the hands of the Roman Empire . In Roman times, navigation along the lake experienced particular development, so much so that ships could descend the Ticino and thus reach Pavia , from where they could reach, thanks to the Po , as far as the Adriatic Sea . It is no coincidence that the excavations of the Angera settlement have brought to light finds that show strong connections between the lake and the upper Adriatic. This shipping line experienced particular development during the early Middle Ages , when Pavia was the capital of the Lombard kingdom first and then of the kingdom of Italy.
To arrive at a period of rebirth of the cities on the lake we had to wait until the Middle Ages , which led to the creation of villages, castles and in general a very different example of the physiognomy of inhabited places.
In this period the area around the lake, as well as numerous territories in the surroundings of Milan , passed into the hands of various families such as the Della Torre , the Visconti , the ruling house of the Habsburgs from 1713 and in particular the Borromeo family , which had enormous influence for many years on Lake Maggiore, starting from the acquisition of the fiefdom of Arona in 1445. Another very illustrious lineage that had a great influence in the medieval era is that of the Marquises Morigi or Moriggia, who received numerous territories from the Viscontis such as the degagne of San Maurizio and San Martino, the Valtravaglia which were nicknamed "Morigie lands". Over the centuries the families of Borromeo and Morigi fought bitterly for hegemony over these lands. The Borromeo themselves also had, between 1523 and 1524, actual armed clashes against Francesco II Sforza who on several occasions sent troops and armed ships against the Borromeo fortresses located on the islands of Cannero . Other noble families linked to the territory since the Middle Ages were the Besozzi , the Sessa , the Luini and the Capitanei of Locarno.
Starting from the 14th century, navigation along the lake was also exploited to transport the heavy blocks of marble coming from Candoglia and other quarries located in the surroundings of the lake towards the two main Lombard construction sites of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: the cathedral of Milan and the Charterhouse of Pavia
Monastero Madre Mechitarista / Մխիթարեան Մայրավանք / Mekhitarist Mother Monastery, Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 30126 Venezia Lido VE, IT 46/57
Museum and Library 14/16
Palazzo Trevisan Cappello, Calle Seconda de la Fava 4301, 30122 Venezia VE, IT 02/03
w. Ponte dei Cappelli
Lake Maggiore or Verbano ( Lagh Magior in Lombard and Piedmontese ) is a pre-Alpine lake of fluvioglacial origin in the Italian geographical region . Its shores are shared between Switzerland ( Canton Ticino ) and Italy (provinces of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Novara , in Piedmont , and Varese , in Lombardy ).
The name Maggiore derives from the fact that it is the largest of the lakes in the area, but among the Italian lakes it is the second in surface area after Lake Garda (as well as the second in depth after Lake Como ). In the past it was joined to Lake Mergozzo , from which it was separated due to the formation of the Fondotoce Plain .
Lake Maggiore is located at a height of approximately 193 meters above sea level . Its surface area is 212 km² , most of which, approximately 80%, is in Italian territory. It has a perimeter of 170 km and a length of 64.37 km (the largest among Italian lakes); the maximum width is 10 km and the average width is 3.9 km. The volume of water contained is equal to 37.5 billion m³ with a theoretical replacement time of approximately 4 years. The hydrographic basin is approximately 6,598 km² of which 3,229 are in Italian territory and 3,369 in Swiss territory (the ratio between the surface area of the basin and that of the lake is 31.1). The maximum altitude of the catchment basin is Punta Dufour in the Monte Rosa massif (4,633 m above sea level), while the average altitude is 1,270 m above sea level. The basin is characterized by the existence of around thirty artificial reservoirs with a collection of approximately 600 million of m³ of water which, if released simultaneously, would raise the lake level by approximately 2.5 m. The maximum depth is approximately 370 m (in the cryptodepression between Ghiffa and Porto Valtravaglia ) which is therefore 177 m below sea level.
The major tributaries are the Ticino , the Maggia , the Toce (which receives the waters of the Strona torrent and therefore of Lake Orta ) and the Tresa (in turn an emissary of Lake Lugano and fed by the Margorabbia ). The major tributaries have a different flow pattern, while Ticino and Toce, which have a catchment basin at high altitudes, reach a maximum flow in the period between May and October coinciding with the melting of snow and glaciers ; the other tributaries have a trend strongly influenced by rainfall . Minor tributaries are the Verzasca , Cannobino , San Bernardino , San Giovanni , Giona and Boesio streams . The only emissary is the Ticino which flows from the lake to Sesto Calende .
Envoys
Bardello
Boesio
Mergozzo Canal
Cannobino
Erno
Fraud of Caldè
Fraud of Porto Valtravaglia
Jonah
Maggia
Molinera
Monvallina
Riale Corto
Riale del Molino
Riale del Roddo
Riale di Casere
Rio Ballona
Rio Colmegnino (or Rio di Colmegna)
Rio Colorio
Rio dell'Asino
Rio Molinetto
Rio Valmara
Rone
San Bernardino
Saint John
San Giovanni di Bedero
Thick Forest
Stronetta
Tiasca
Ticino
Toce
Aquanegra stream
Tresa
Trigo
Versella or Varesella
Verzasca
Vevera
Geology
The origin of Lake Maggiore is partly glacial, as evidenced by the layout of the hills formed by moraine deposits of a glacial nature, but it is ascertained that the glacial excavation took place on a pre-existing river valley, the profile of the lake in fact has the typical V shape of river valleys.
Baveno pink granite was widely used as a building material in the past . Furthermore, the ancient construction uses of Angera stone are known (used for example in classical antiquity and in the medieval period), while the Caldè limestone quarries provided for many centuries the raw material for the lime with which high-rise buildings were built. Lombardy and Piedmont: thanks to the ease of transport by boat, first on the lake, then on the Milanese canals
Lake Maggiore is characterized by cold winters, but milder than inland, and moderately snowy (with average accumulations of 10 cm for each snowfall and sometimes even higher than 30 cm up to a maximum of 50 cm), summers are moderately hot, humid and stormy, the average temperature in January is around 2 degrees centigrade, with peaks of 3 degrees on the northern side of the Borromean Gulf (due to the extensive exposure to the sun), night temperatures can drop below 0, up to -10, but very rarely go below this value. In summer the average temperatures are around 22 degrees centigrade, with daytime peaks rarely exceeding 32 degrees. Proceeding towards the internal valleys the temperatures gradually become more rigid. The area is very rainy and sometimes, especially in intermediate seasons, floods can occur. The temperature of the surface waters (up to 2 meters deep) of the lake reach winter peaks of 5-6 degrees, while in summer they reach an average of 22-24 degrees.
Some statistics on Lake Maggiore . It should be noted that during lean periods the water level between Locarno and Sesto Calende can vary by 1 cm, while during floods up to 30 cm
Like all pre-Alpine lakes, Lake Maggiore is crossed, especially in the summer, by two types of prevailing winds, one which blows in the morning from the mountains towards the plain (called moscendrino as it comes from the Monte Ceneri Pass , sometimes tramontana ) and a small breeze that blows from the plain to the mountains especially during the afternoon (called inverna ). These constant winds make the pre-Alpine lakes an excellent field for practicing sports that use the wind, such as sailing and windsurfing . Lake Maggiore has some particular points, especially in the upper part, where the mountains squeeze together to form a narrow valley in which these winds blow very strongly.
Then there are other winds typical of this lake such as the winter wind , which blows from the south-west and generally brings storms, the major one , which comes from the north-east and is very dangerous as it agitates the lake a lot, the valmaggine which blows slightly from the valleys behind Locarno , the mergozzo , which blows especially at night, from the north-west
In Lake Maggiore there are many large, small or tiny islands , divided between 8 in Piedmont, 2 in Switzerland and 2 in Lombardy, for a total of 12.
Borromean Islands
Beautiful island
Isola Madre
Isola dei Pescatori (or Isola Superiore or Isola Superiore dei Pescatori)
Islet of San Giovanni
Malghera islet (or rock).
Brissago Islands
San Pancrazio Island (or Big Island)
Island of Sant'Apollinare (or Isolino)
Castles of Cannero
Isolino Partegora
Sasso Galletto
Between Stresa and Verbania there is the Borromean archipelago: Isola Madre (the largest in the lake basin), Isola Bella and Isola Superiore dei Pescatori (also known more simply as Isola dei Pescatori or Isola Superiore)
Opposite the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona are the two islands of Brissago, the larger of which hosts a botanical garden.
In front of the coast of Cannero Riviera there are the three emerged rocks called Castelli di Cannero: the major rock, totally occupied today by the Vitaliana war artefact, a fortress commissioned by Count Ludovico Borromeo starting from 1518, the minor rock, on which the ruins of the so-called "prisons" stand, but in fact a small advanced tower with a falconette gunboat garrisoning the southern canal port, and finally the little rock (towards Maccagno ) of the "Melgonaro", on which only a stunted but tenacious plant grows fascinated poets and engravers such as Piero Chiara , Marco Costantini , Carlo Rapp .
Finally, we must mention the small island of San Giovanni in front of Verbania (famous because it was the residence of the orchestra director Arturo Toscanini in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Borromeo for many years ), the small island of La Malghera also known as Isola delle Bambole , among 'Isola Bella and that of the Fishermen and therefore the Isolino Partegora in the small gulf of Angera .
History:
The finds and evidence found tell us that following the actual creation of the lake, with the complete retreat of the ice, the surrounding area was inhabited by nomadic groups , who used the territory mainly as a place for hunting and supplies.
In the Chalcolithic historical period, the first residential areas were built in the immediate vicinity of the lake and from that moment there was a slow consolidation of sedentary groups .
On the shores of the lake, the Golasecca culture developed between the 9th and 4th centuries BC , a Celtic -speaking Iron Age civilization . The Golasecchians advanced as far as some areas of present-day Lombardy , only to be pushed back again to their western borders by the descent of the Celts into the Italian peninsula , probably the population of the Taurine Gauls .
The Gauls therefore had supremacy over the lake territory until the advance of the Romans who turned the Piedmont and Lombard areas back into provinces of the empire . The " Verbanus Lacus " (name given to it by the Romans, from which the nomenclature Lake Verbano will probably derive ) or " Lacus Maximus " (another name even attributed to it by Virgil ) will remain firmly in the hands of the Roman Empire . In Roman times, navigation along the lake experienced particular development, so much so that ships could descend the Ticino and thus reach Pavia , from where they could reach, thanks to the Po , as far as the Adriatic Sea . It is no coincidence that the excavations of the Angera settlement have brought to light finds that show strong connections between the lake and the upper Adriatic. This shipping line experienced particular development during the early Middle Ages , when Pavia was the capital of the Lombard kingdom first and then of the kingdom of Italy.
To arrive at a period of rebirth of the cities on the lake we had to wait until the Middle Ages , which led to the creation of villages, castles and in general a very different example of the physiognomy of inhabited places.
In this period the area around the lake, as well as numerous territories in the surroundings of Milan , passed into the hands of various families such as the Della Torre , the Visconti , the ruling house of the Habsburgs from 1713 and in particular the Borromeo family , which had enormous influence for many years on Lake Maggiore, starting from the acquisition of the fiefdom of Arona in 1445. Another very illustrious lineage that had a great influence in the medieval era is that of the Marquises Morigi or Moriggia, who received numerous territories from the Viscontis such as the degagne of San Maurizio and San Martino, the Valtravaglia which were nicknamed "Morigie lands". Over the centuries the families of Borromeo and Morigi fought bitterly for hegemony over these lands. The Borromeo themselves also had, between 1523 and 1524, actual armed clashes against Francesco II Sforza who on several occasions sent troops and armed ships against the Borromeo fortresses located on the islands of Cannero . Other noble families linked to the territory since the Middle Ages were the Besozzi , the Sessa , the Luini and the Capitanei of Locarno.
Starting from the 14th century, navigation along the lake was also exploited to transport the heavy blocks of marble coming from Candoglia and other quarries located in the surroundings of the lake towards the two main Lombard construction sites of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: the cathedral of Milan and the Charterhouse of Pavia
Palazzo Loredan - Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (IVSLA) / Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters & Arts, Campo Santo Stefano 2945/2946, San Marco, 30124 Venezia, VE, IT - De' Visi mostruosi e Caricature - Da Leonardo da Vinci a Bacon / Of Monstrous Faces and Caricatures - From Leonardo da Vinci to Bacon, 28 Gennaio - 27 Aprile 2023 / Jan. 28th - Apr. 27th 2023 05/19
Leonardo da Vinci (April 15th 1452 - May 2nd 1519) - Caricatura d'Uomo a mezzo Busto / Caricature of the Bust of a Man (c. 1500), Caricatura di Donna a mezzo Busto con Coroncina di Foglie / Caricature of the Bust of a Woman with a Crown of Leaves (c. 1490)
Fontego dei Tedeschi / Fondaco dei Tedeschi / Warehouse of the Germans, Calle del Fontego dei Tedeschi, San Marco, 30100 Venezia VE, IT 68/80
Venezia / Venice 360° - Terrazza Panoramica / Panoramic Rooftop Terrace Views 64/72
w. (Front:) Ponte di Rialto / Rialto Bridge, Palazzo dei Dieci Savi, Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, Fabbriche Vecchie di Rialto, Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto, (Back:) Campanile della Chiesa di San Silvestro / Bell Tower of Church of St. Sylvester, Campanile della Chiesa Rettoriale di San Paolo Apostolo / Bell Tower of Rectorial Church of St. Paul of the Apostle aka San Polo, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari / Basilica of Glorious St. Mary of the Brothers (San Polo), Campanile della Chiesa di Sant'Aponal / Bell Tower of Church of St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, Chiesa di San Nicola da Tolentino / Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Santa Croce), Cupole della Chiesa di San Simeone e Giuda vulgo San Simeon Piccolo / Domes of Church of Sts. Simeon and Jude, Campanile della Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario / Bell Tower of Church of St. John the Merciful or the Almsgiver, Campanile della Chiesa di San Cassiano / Bell Tower of Church of St. Cassian, Chiesa di San Geremia Profeta / Church of St. Jeremy or Jeremiah the Prophet w. Campanile / Bell Tower
Ryan Janek Wolowski visiting Ristorante Centrale Pizzeria in Venice / Venezia, Italy / Italia, The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana, Europe
Venice / Venezia is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture, and its artwork.The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region.
About this portion of the journey:
LUCERNE – VENICE
Traverse the Alps into Italy via the scenic St. Gotthard route and catch a glimpse of Lake Como. Skirt the sprawling commercial capital, Milan, arriving later in the region of Venice, a historically wealthy city built across 118 islands in a marshy lagoon.
VENICE ORIENTATION – FLORENCE
Cruise by private launch to St. Mark's Square and see the sumptuous Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Watch the Venetian craftsmen at work creating local specialities at a glassblowing workshop. Afterwards, you might like to take an optional experience to Burano Island for a delightful lunch. Cross the Apennine Mountains, arriving later in Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance.
For more information on the city of Venice / Venezia visit:
www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/ID...
For more information on visiting Italy www.italia.it/en/home.html
Trafalgar Travel
London to Rome Highlights Tour
October 16th 2014 returning to New York City on Sunday October 26th 2014
Eleven day tour visiting four countries
London, England, UK United Kingdom (2 nights)
Paris, France (2 nights)
Lucerne, Switzerland (1 night)
Venice, Italy (1 night)
Florence, Italy (1 night)
Rome, Italy (2 nights)
costsaver.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/london-to-rome-highligh...
For more on Trafalgar Travel
866-513-1995
Hashtag metadata tag
#Venice #VeniceItaly #VeniceItalia #Venezia #VeneziaItaly #VeneziaItalia #ItalianRepublic #RepubblicaItaliana #Europe #Italian #Italy #Italia #Europe #European #TiAmoItaly #TiAmoItalia #TiAmoVenice #TiAmoVenezia #Veneto #WorldHeritage #WorldHeritageSite #HeritageSite #Italiana
Photo
Venice / Venezia , Italy / Italia / The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana country, Europe continent
Rome / Roma city, Italy / Italia country, Europe continent
October 23rd 2014
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Sorico is an Italian municipality of 1,236 inhabitants in the province of Como in Lombardy , in the Regio Insubrica Euroregion and in the Valli del Lario and Ceresio mountain community .
Located at the northernmost point of Lake Como (57 km north of Como ), represents the last river town in the Mera river basin and constitutes the connection point between Alto Lario, Valtellina and Valchiavenna. The municipality with its people23 km² is the fourth largest in the province of Como. Sorico can be reached by car along the SS340 (from Como-Lugano), the SS38 (from Sondrio) or the SS36 (from Milan, Lecco, Chiavenna), by train, Colico station in9 km , line 36 Milan-Lecco-Sondrio-Tirano, by bus line C10 Como-Colico. By boat, Domaso port (a5 km ) or Colico (a9km ).
In the Suricense area there are seven inhabited areas: Sorico center near the mouth of the Mera river, Albonico and Bugiallo halfway up the mountain, Dascio between the north and south basin of Lake Mezzola, the town in Poncetta in the Pian di Spagna , the La Punta settlement at the mouth of the Mera river and the Nigolo area on the border with Dubino . The varied morphological conformation of the municipality includes a large part of the Pian di Spagna , the southern front of Mount Berlinghera up to 1,936 meters above sea level and the hilly area below 600 metres, the river route of the Mera river and the western shore of Lake Mezzala . The municipality of Sorico therefore has7.26 km of lake coast and9.06 km of river coast. The fact that the municipal territory overlooks Lake Mezzola makes Sorico, together with Verceia, the natural entrance to Valchiavenna . The mountain and lake areas of Sorico, as a high example of pre-Alpine landscape ecosystems characterized by a very high degree of naturalness, are reported by several magazines specialized in tourism promotion. The flat and lake-river areas are defined as Italian wetlands on the Ramsar list .
The hilly area
The hilly area is a portion of territory between 200 and 600 meters above sea level and extends for approximately5 km (from Albonico to the center of Sorico) made fertile until a few decades ago by a continuous succession of terraces made up of dry stone walls. The constant and intelligent work of man has for centuries domesticated the mountains for his sustenance purposes. The advent of the typical well-being of the twentieth century and the migration of peasant interests from the mountains to the plains slowly led to the abandonment of the first portion of the mid-coast just above the banks of the Mera river . The cultivations carried out on the hills favored vines and various fruit cultivars; the presence of chestnut trees in this terraced altitude range was scarce . A curiosity is the presence even today of small scattered groupings of olive trees which make Sorico the northernmost sector in Europe for the propagation of the species. Of what should have been an example of tradition and ingenuity, no trace remains for those who observe the hill from below. The lush forest that covers the coast, mainly made up of black locust trees, has taken the place of the rich plateaus and has surrounded the oldest buildings of the typical rural centers ( Corzone , Cà Crusca , Gaggiolo , Gusbano , La pizza , Locofontana, Montagnola, Piazzo, Quessero, Selve, Sirana, Prati Meriggi, Vallate) transforming them into romantic ruins. Before the construction of carriage roads (twentieth century works) all the small hamlets were connected by mule tracks branching off from the main Antica Via Regina .
Origins of the name
The term “Sorico” can be traced back to various Latin terms but the one that is most descriptive of the town is ex auricus , from the verb exauricare , to disperse the air, to refresh , corresponding to the dialect sorà : because the place, sultry and hot, is airy from Breva .
History
In the territory of Sorico, the lower Valchiavenna and the lower Valtellina, the Celto-Rhaetian tribe of the Aneuniates was present in pre-Roman times. Under Roman domination their Vicus was Aneumium (translated: Holonius ) in the province of Cisalpine Gaul .
Administrative events from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age
Already attested as an autonomous municipal administrative entity in the 9th century, Sorico established the Republic of the Three Parishes of Lario together with Gravedona and Dongo . In 1335 the annexes to the Statutes of Como report the municipality of Surico as the community in charge of the maintenance of the stretch of via Regina between a specific fountain and the "terminum qui est supra tramittem qui venit a turre de Olonio versum Suricum et decisitur ad Veniollam" . As a member of the "Tre Pievi", Sorico had joint control of the first stretch of Lake Como from the 12th to the 16th century.
The Pieve di Sorico derives from 1432 with the definitive ruin of the primitive Pieve di Olonio , already attested in the 11th century within Olonio , the ancient village of the late Roman period called Aneunia which stood in the Pian di Spagna but which was continuously devastated by the floods of the Adda river . The municipality became the seat of the new parish on 9 November 1456. The parish priests of Sorico, as sanctioned by the Papal Bull of Callixtus III of 30 October 1455, still maintain the title of Archpriest today as the formal prestige of the parish deriving from its antiquity and its past of the Mother Church . In the period of maximum expansion of the Pieve di Sorico as the center of the ecclesiastical district, the communities of Dubino , Trezzone , Montemezzo , Piantedo , Colico , Cosio Valtellino , Regoledo , Rasura , Sacco , Pedesina , Gerola and Rasura were subject to it . Gradually over about three centuries (15th-18th centuries) all these localities obtained more and more autonomy until they finally broke away from Sorico to create separate communities.
In 1497 the territory of the Tre Pievi was granted as a fief by Ludovico Maria Sforza to Lucrezia Crivelli , while in 1545 it was enfeoffed to Medeghino . In 1580 , by concession of Philip II of Spain, the territory of the Tre Pievi, now a legacy of a medieval past, was converted into a county of the County of Como . In the same year, Sorico and the Tre Pievi fiefdom passed into the hands of the Gallio family , who exercised their feudal rights over the territory until beyond the mid- 18th century .
Despite its institutional importance at a supra-municipal level, in 1751 the center of Sorico appeared to constitute an extremely small community (only 40 inhabitants) but it had jurisdiction over a territory including numerous cassinaggi: "San Miro", Corsone, Gagiolo, Vallate, Dolo, Ronchi, Scagne, Fontana, Moscone, “Motti de Pedroni”, Meriggie, Quesser, “Quesser de Gossi”, Canina and Ciaffaboja.
A decree of administrative reorganization of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy dated 1807 sanctioned the annexation of Sorico to the municipality of Gera , a decision canceled by the Restoration .
Sorico as the state border of the Duchy of Milan
For centuries, as a border area between Milan and Grisons (from 1512 to 1797), Sorico was a crossroads of land and lake trade to and from northern Europe as well as a strategic military outpost. The strategic position as a border land allowed economic advantages as a fast passage for the lake transport of goods from the most industrialized areas of Europe (from Tuscany to Flanders , from the Po Valley), such as the ports of Genoa and Venice . Unfortunately, misfortunes also happen on the part of passing armies and mercenaries. In 1431 Sorico was remembered in the chronicle of the Battle of Delebio already as the border of the Milanese dominions and in 1515 Sorico was a battleground between the French who came down from the Alps for the Battle of Marignano and the Grisons by whom it was sacked and set on fire. The passage of the Landsknechts from Valtellina in 1630 to go and fight in the War of Succession of Mantua and Monferrato was disastrous because, as Alessandro Manzoni also recalls in The Betrothed, it brought the plague . The troops of Duke Henry II of Rohan sacked the Suricense and Tre Pievi territory in 1636 as retaliation against the Spanish raids in the dominions of the Duchy of Parma . Also in the seventeenth century the Spanish crown dominated the Milanese duchy and Sorico, being a state border, in this century experienced Iberian militarization ( 1535 - 1706 ). The imposing military garrison defending the northern border of the Duchy of Milan but also a bulwark of the Spanish Catholic faith towards the spread of Protestant doctrines beyond the Alps had as its headquarters the fort of Fuentes near Colico . At the time , during the government of the Republic of the Three Leagues , nearby Chiavenna had become an important center for the spread of Protestantism , where many Italian reformers and religious dissidents found the longed-for freedom of worship, denied to them in Italy after the persecutions of the Inquisition . Among them are: Agostino Mainardi , Pier Paolo Vergerio , Scipione Lentolo , Camillo Renato , Girolamo Zanchietc. The political and cultural climate was certainly very tense and it is not surprising that there was an unprecedented constant military presence in Northern Italy. Valtellina and consequently the upper Lake Como constituted in fact an important crossroads for communications and supplies between the Habsburg dominions of Spain and Austria , representing a corridor that allowed the connection between Spanish Lombardy and the Austrian dominions, as well as the entrance of Spanish troops directly on German territory (in the Spanish plans it would have allowed the United Provinces to be tightened in a pincer ), in particular in the context of the Thirty Years' War in which the branch of the Spanish Habsburgs was allied with the German collateral branch, engaged on the front of the struggle against the Protestant princes . During the most critical period of the Thirty Years' War , eight infantry companies, two thousand sappers and twenty artillery pieces were located within a radius of three kilometers from the Fort of Fuentes to the small fortresses all around such as the tower of Sorico, the tower of Fontanedo , the Adda fort, Torre di Curcio, the Torre del Passo, the Torrino di Borgofrancone. The worsening of events culminated with the Sacred Slaughterhouse : a massacre carried out by a group of Catholics against the reformed population , which took place in Valtellina in July 1620 , in the context of a pro-Spanish revolt against the Republic of the Three Leagues which then controlled the Valtellina territory. There is trace of the past Spanish presence today in various toponyms, in local surnames and in many terms of the strict dialect spoken in Bugiallo and in Albonico which in its phonetics and nouns used recalls the Catalan language .
Today, passing along the state road 402 Valeriana which connects the Ponte del Passo locality to Dubino (Nuova Olonio locality), a sign indicates, in addition to the change of province (Como - Sondrio), the ancient border which in the 18th century delimited the Duchy of Milan from the dominion of Graubünden as a state border. This imaginary line, then impossible to terminate on the ground given the continuous variation of the bed of the Adda river , was established (after centuries of territorial disputes) in 1763 with a decree of Empress Maria Teresa of Austria, then Duchess of Milan, and is represented with a straight line that it originates in Dascio and runs in the direction of the summit of Monte Legnone , continues along the west shore of Lake Mezzola up to San Fedelino , continues for two kilometers into Valchiavenna along the right bank of the Mera river and then climbs back up to the summit of Monte Berlinghera . The demarcation useful for the completion of the Teresian Land Registry (in German Mailänder Kataster) not only resolved the problem of the land delimitation between the two states but also sanctioned important fishing rights in Lake Mezzola, also divided between the Duchy of Milan which passed under the Austrian crown after the War of the Spanish Succession and the Grisons (from 1706 to 1797 ). The official border between states disappeared with the annexation of Valtellina and Valchiavennasco to the Cisalpine Republic , with the withdrawal of the Grisons possessions from the Italian-Swiss watershed and with the formation of the Helvetic Republic in the same year . Today the line is still valid for the cadastral confinement of the stretch of the Provinces of Como and Sondrio between the municipalities of Sorico, Dubino and Samolaco .
The military defense works between the 1st century BC and the 17th century.
The Spanish-built Fort d'Adda
Among the works of military genius present in the Suricense area are the ancient tower of Olonio and the castle of San Giorgio . The first, (demolished down to its foundations in 1523 and now completely disappeared) was of Roman origin and served for around 1500 years as a point for the collection of duties for the intense commercial exchanges on the lake between the Mera river and Valchiavenna . The castle of San Giorgio, whose mighty ruins can still be seen in the tangle of woods on the hill of the same name above the town of Sorico, dates back to the feudal age. The two monuments together with the Baradello castle in Como were donated to the Church of Como by Federico Barbarossa on 25 October 1167. In Pian di Spagna there is the 17th century Forte d'Adda, a well-preserved example of the Iberian military presence of Philip II of Spain .
The swamping of the Pian di Spagna and the reclamation works
«" The inhabitants of these lands rose up into the mountains in the summer to avoid fevers; the poor people remained in the plain to look after the herds that enjoyed free grazing there. And while in the Tuscan Maremme the average lifespan reaches twenty-two years, here it does not lasted only nineteen "»
In the summer of 1520, following heavy rains, the Adda river caused extensive damage in Valtellina and no less in Sorico. Until the disastrous event, the Adda in fact flowed into Lake Mezzola and during one night the mouth of the river changed, moving 2 km to the south and finding itself flowing just north of the current Ponte del Passo . The disastrous event marked the end of the Torre di Olonio which from then on will be remembered as a fortress in the middle of the Adda. Until 1520 the Adda river was navigable up to Dubino in Valtellina where the Porto area still exists today. The swamping of the surrounding agricultural areas was inevitable, so much so that Sorico experienced a period of slow and inexorable decline characterized by the almost total loss of agricultural livelihoods deriving from the Olonio Plan (ancient name for the Pian di Spagna). A microclimate was established in the vast alluvial plain which favored the continuous presence of unhealthy malarial swamps which were also created due to a natural rise of Lake Como. The presence of man was so difficult in the Pian di Spagna that the average lifespan was estimated at 19 years; even less than in the Maremma marshes where the average lifespan was 23 years. It is even estimated that during the Spanish military presence malaria claimed more victims among the soldiers of the Fort of Fuentes than during its sieges. It is in this period (16th-19th centuries) that the people of the plain moved to the mountain and hillsides, founding various residential areas in the nearby areas and on the paths to Albonico and Bugiallo , focusing agriculture on the cultivation of terraces supported by dry stone walls . In the late spring and summer period the inhabitants of Sorico resorted to transhumance towards the mountain pastures of the upper Valchiavenna to escape from the malaria of the lake marshes. Transhumance was practiced constantly until the mid-1950s. XX. In the village the event which involved the entire population was called Cargà i Alp ("charging the mountain pastures"). The return to the village was scheduled for the last week of September. Many Suricensi families have inherited a particular and centuries-old right to graze their livestock at high altitude in the municipality of Madesimo. Thus, a very close bond with the territories and with the inhabitants of Madesimo and the entire Spluga Valley is maintained today . After the rectification of the Adda under the design of the engineer Giuseppe Cusi during the last years of the Lombardy-Veneto Kingdomthe Adda river was made to flow into the lake no longer in Sorico but on the border with the municipality of Colico. Thus the first reclamation work was carried out which allowed rational water management. Upon completion of the impressive embankment and canalization work, still visible today, Pian di Spagna slowly returned to being cultivable and subsequently habitable. The reclamation works continued sporadically until 1915, also carried out by the Opera di San Luigi Guanella of Nuova Olonio. From 1950 to 1954, with an intervention by the Ministry of Public Works within the Pian di Spagna, the last marshes in the locality of La Punta , the ancient mouth of the Adda river before 1858, were drained and canalized. The canal that survived the reclamation works Borgofrancone .
Events of the 20th century
In the Sorico valley , in the Piazzo area, one of the first hydroelectric plants on Lake Como was installed in 1905, consisting of two alternators from Brown, Boveri & Cie and two turbines from Riva Calzoni , technologically advanced at the beginning of the twentieth century, the first for civil service of the town and then of the industries of Colico. In 1928 the "Tre Pievi" musical body of Sorico was founded, its name chosen in honor of the noble past of the town. In 1929 the municipality of Sorico incorporated the municipality of Bugiallo of which it became the capital. On 8 August 1951 the historic center of the town was hit by a flood from the Sorico torrent. The disastrous event caused one victim and in a few hours the torrent invaded the archpriest church of S. Stefano with debris. It is important to remember that the center of the town had several shocking flood events of the Sorico stream over the centuries. In fact, before 1783, the year in which it was decided to divert it into the current riverbed, it flowed in what is now the Roggia canal almost on the border with Gera Lario. During the night of September 1, 1755, the peak of the torrent's flood devastation occurred with the semi-destruction of Palazzo Giulini and the church of Sant'Orsola which stood north of today's Via Roma.
The First and Second World Wars
Sorico, for a short period during the First World War, returned to being a strategic military point as in past centuries. The vast municipal territory extended then as today geographically into Valchiavenna and Monte Berlinghera itself represents the southern barrier of the valley. At the outbreak of the Great War there was fear that the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire could break into Italy through an invasion from Valchiavenna and Val Bregaglia. On the slopes of Monte Berlinghera, in the Brentalone area, various military observation structures were thus created, taking advantage of the particular panoramic view of the place which ranges from Chiavenna to the Spluga Pass (the first to11 km and the second a32 km as the crow flies). These are mostly several powder magazines and observation points now in ruins but clearly visible, dug into the rock deep in the mountain. The road that goes up from Albonico towards Brentalone is still called the "military road" today. The route, with a caliber useful for the easy transport and positioning of cannons and howitzers, represents with its dry containment walls, a living testimony of the superbly preserved Northern Frontier .
After the signing of the Badoglio Proclamation on 8 September 1943, the town of Sorico experienced an agitated period. Firefights near the Ponte del Passo , erroneous shelling towards the town, aerial machine-gunning and stories of partisan espionage characterized the end and immediate post-war period in Sorico. During the final phases of the Second World War, the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade "Luigi Clerici" commanded by Pier Luigi Bellini delle Stelle took garrison on the slopes of Mount Berlinghera and was supported with the help of some local families called the Puecher detachment in memory of the partisan Giancarlo Puecher Passavalli . In the town we remember the presence during the war of the Partisans Angelo Porta, Renato Tettamanti, Aldo Cantoni, Luigi Corbetta, Antonio Ghioldi, the political commissioner Michele Moretti , Giuseppina Tuissi , Alfonso Lissi and Guglielmo Cantoni with the battle name "Sandrino Menefrego" known as last partisan guarding Mussolini the night before his execution.
With the radio message "Francesca greets Gina" the Brigade, a leading figure in the Italian Resistance , requested and obtained a massive British air supply near the Monte Berlinghera mountain pasture on the night of 5 April 1945 . The parachuted material was 20 heavy machine guns, three hundred Stens , mortars and ammunition. Therefore armed and equipped, on 25 April 1945 the brigade stopped the German column in Dongo in which Benito Mussolini had joined , who was arrested.
Those excited days of '45 in the village are remembered in the stories of the elderly curious anecdotes centered on episodes of the Resistance, on the Gold of Dongo and on the visit to Sorico in 1945 by Winston Churchill who behind the false name of Colonel Waltham he came to Lake Como in search of letters and documents with Mussolini. In fact, although he was captured in Dongo, part of the German military column under the command of Captain Hans Fallmeyer passed through Sorico.
«During the journey, the German Commander began to become very worried at the sight of the populations of the lake villages waving festive red banners and handkerchiefs. Furthermore, Michele Moretti managed very cleverly to convince Fallmeyer that the Ponte del Passo , at the beginning of the Val Chiavenna, had previously been mined by the partisans"
( Giusto Perretta, The truth , ACTAC, Como 1990 p. 138 )
The entire story of these documents will be called the Churchill-Mussolini Correspondence .
The steamship "Lariano" in service in the Colico port
Many remember the aerial strafing that occurred on March 14, 1945 against the steamers
"Lombardy" (length:63.50 m ; length:12.30 m ; displacement :237 t ; total capacity: 1 000 passengers),
"Volta" (length:54.17 m ; length:10.86m ; displacement:267 t ; total capacity: 650 passengers),
"Lariano" (length:53.86m ; length:11.14m ; displacement:227 t ; total capacity: 650 passengers)
stranded on the bow in the shallow seabed and camouflaged at the mouth of the Mera river in the La Punta area : during the excited day at the end of winter an Anglo-American air force, keeping a safe distance from the machine guns of the Montecchio Nord Fort in Colico, attacked the three boats; the targets are easy and above all defenseless, and the aerial strafing passes were numerous, until the steamers were completely engulfed in flames. Volunteer firefighters from Menaggio and Gravedona rushed to the scene , but nothing could be done to save the ships whose fire lasted all night. The wrecks were then removed by the "Lariana" shipping company only in 1947. Another event was the two bullets fired by mistake in the direction of Sorico on 27 April 1945 from the guns of the Montecchio Nord Fort in Colico . The two artillery shots were fired from Colico after the fort was conquered by the partisans. The action was intimidating against Mussolini's German military column and in any case did not cause any damage as the bullets exploded upon impact in the valley of the stream.
Sorico today
Today Sorico presents itself as a small summer tourist center offering, together with Gera Lario, many possibilities related to water sports. There are no industries in the municipal area and there are several agricultural companies. Fortunately, the municipal territory, having never been the subject of massive civil and industrial construction, maintains the natural environments and ecosystems almost intact , which are now more protected than ever even with the presence of the Pian di Spagna - Lago di Mezzola nature reserve created after the Ramsar Convention and included in the relevant Ramsar list . This list, which includes 51 areas for a total of 60 052 hectares, was drawn up by the Ministry of the Environment. , This wetland is protected by supporting the principles of sustainable development and the conservation of biodiversity, providing inspiration for an increasingly present ecological tourism favored by the exceptional nature of the places, through the practice of widespread hospitality, organic agricultural production, guided cultural visit. The cross-border connection to Switzerland is fundamental for the local economy.
Symbols
The coat of arms and the banner were granted by decree of the President of the Republic of 9 February 1990.
«Silver, with three red crosses , arranged in a band. External ornaments from the Municipality.»
The coat of arms is ancient and, like those of Gravedona and Dongo , testifies to Sorico's historical belonging to the Republic of the Three Parishes.
The banner is a red cloth.
Monuments and places of interest
Religious architecture
Plebeian archpriest church of Santo Stefano , open daily with Holy Mass officiated;
Church of San Miro , Sanctuary which houses the remains of San Miro ;
Oratory of San Fedele , a small oratory built on the site of the martyrdom of St. Fedele;
The Ca' Redunda. Former oratory of the Blessed Virgin by the river and now a private home
Oratory of S. Gaetano (Bugiallo)
Church of S. Giovanni Battista (Bugiallo)
Church of San Giovanni Battista, in Bugiallo ;
Oratory of San Gaetano, in Bugiallo;
Church of San Sebastiano in Albonico ;
Church of San Biagio in Dascio ;
Gesiolo of San Miro
Church of the Good Shepherd [13]
Civil architecture
Palazzo Giulini , a noble villa in the center of the town now in a state of ruin;
Ponte del Passo , road bridge over the Mera river;
Military architecture
Forte d'Adda : The building, now used for agricultural purposes, stands in the Pian di Spagna . During the 17th and 18th centuries it was a Spanish military outpost gravitating in the fortress system of the Fort of Fuentes .
Torre Nuova : The building, originally with a square base, was built with stone ashlars bonded with aerial mortar. There are no certain documents on its construction, but historians agree that its past use was a point of control or collection of duties on the Antica Via Regina , which runs a little further south . In the sixties of the twentieth century the tower was purchased by private individuals and renovated; further living spaces were added around the base.
Pian di Spagna , nature reserve;
Mera River ;
Coastal road Ponte del Passo-Dascio
Dascio-San Fedelino historical path . Natural approach route to the Oratory of San Fedelino;
Monte Berlinghera , whose peak at 1,930 meters above sea level is the highest point in the municipality. Between 1,500 and 1,700 m there is the Pescedo mountain pasture ;
Stagno di Peschiera , a small lake of glacial origin at 586 meters above sea level north of Albonico in the northernmost sector of the province of Como;
Antica Via Regina and Via Francisca , ancient roads that connected north and south Lombardy;
Sasso di Dascio , panoramic point on Lake Mezzola above the town of Dascio;
Pian di Spagna , one of the most important nature reserves in northern Italy;
San Fedelino beach , natural and uncontaminated beach on Lake Mezzola;
La Punta , the northernmost coastal strip of Lake Como;
Lake Mezzola
Soric
Via dei Monti Lariani
Traditions and folklore
Catholic religious feast of St. Anthony the Abbot every January 17th in the church of San Miro with distribution of blessed loaves. In the afternoon, means of transport such as wagons, cars and motorbikes are blessed in front of the church of S. Stefano.
Catholic religious festival of San Sebastiano in the hamlet of Albonico on the 2nd Sunday of January.
Catholic religious anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes with night-time torchlight procession in the historic center every 11 February in front of the archpriest church.
Feast of the Catholic religious of San Biagio every 1st Sunday of February in the Dascio hamlet with procession on the bank of the Mera river .
Marziroo every March 1st throughout the entire municipal area.
Vespers of San Marco every 25th April in the church of San Miro . In ancient times rogations were held and silkworms were blessed.
Catholic religious festival of San Miro every first Sunday of May around the church of San Miro .
San Miro Fair every second Friday of May in the central square of the town.
Catholic religious festival dedicated to the Madonna of Bugiallo with procession in the town center of Bugiallo every 2nd Sunday of May.
Catholic religious anniversary of Corpus Christi on the first Sunday after Pentecost . On the occasion of the solemnity of Corpus Domini, a consecrated host is carried in procession in the historic center of Sorico, enclosed in a monstrance under a canopy, and exposed to public adoration. It is the only procession of the liturgical year that is of obligation, according to canon law.
"Party in the pine forest". Party with lunch and games in the pine forest of the Bugiallo mountains every 3rd Sunday of July.
Catholic religious festival dedicated to San Bartolomeo in the small church in the mountains above Bugiallo every 24 August.
Albonico village festival every penultimate week of September organized by the "Friends of Albonico".
Catholic religious festival of the Archangel Michael at the church of San Miro on the last Sunday of September.
"The colors of autumn" party in the center of Sorico with an exhibition of typical products and local antiques. Every third Sunday of October.
The Fair of the Dead of Sorico every 1-2 November in the historic center.
Every year the "Fair of the Dead" takes place with a market that takes place in the historic center on the commemorative days of All Saints and the deceased on 1st and 2nd November. The fair of the dead has ancient origins: the tradition of a late autumn market that allowed the inhabitants of Sorico and its surroundings to stock up on supplies and livestock for the upcoming winter is lost in the past. The Sorico fair is certainly derived from the market that once took place in Olonio, the disappeared village located in what is now Pian di Spagna. Built at an important crossroads of roads, a flourishing commercial activity developed almost naturally in Olonio, as the favorable logistical situation allowed a constant meeting of goods and people.
The official ratification of the establishment of a market in Holonius was issued by Emperor Lothair I in favor of Hilduin , abbot of Saint-Denis in Paris . With this document the Emperor granted the abbey, which had large possessions in the upper Lake Como, the right to establish a market in Haenohim (Olonio) , on Lake Como in Valtellina. All this in the year 840 so the Sorico fair is almost 1200 years old. The period of the year in which to hold the fair was then established in 1281 by the Statutes of Como, which established three days of holiday in the period of All Saints' Day in which the market could be held, which a consul of justice and a ambassador elected by the Podestà of Como. The disappearance of Olonio, buried by the debris of the Adda river and the rising of Lake Como in the 15th century , did not prevent the perpetuation of the market tradition, which later moved from its original location to Sorico. Despite undergoing downsizing over the centuries in both space and time (the abbot GM Stampa in the book Atti del Beato Miro of 1724 reports the attempt of the Conto Giulini to revitalize the market by bringing from two to three market days to increase the miserable economy of the country), the fair still continues to be a fixed point in the calendar that marks the life of Sorico. In spring the so-called "San Miro" fair is held.
National Unity and Armed Forces Day every Sunday following November 4th.
Catholic religious festival of the Immaculate Conception every 8 December with procession in the historic center.
Catholic Patronal Feast of Saint Stephen every 26 December.
Night-time torchlight procession on the path to the church of San Miro and prayer vigil every December 31st.
Campanile pendente e Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci / Lean Bell Tower and Church of St. George of the Greeks at Rio dei Greci, Calle dei Greci 3422, Castello, 30122 Venezia VE, IT 02/02
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Curiglia: A Journey Through Time in a Picturesque Italian Village
Introduction
Nestled within the rolling hills of Northern Italy, the village of Curiglia in the region of Lombardy carries with it a rich history that spans centuries. From its humble beginnings as a medieval settlement to its present-day charm, Curiglia's story is one of resilience, cultural evolution, and the preservation of tradition. This narrative delves into the village's past, tracing its transformation through the ages, and highlighting the key events and influences that have shaped its character.
Ancient Origins
Curiglia's origins can be traced back to ancient times, long before documented records. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area was inhabited by prehistoric communities, drawn to the fertile lands and proximity to water sources. The earliest settlements were likely small agricultural communities, relying on farming, fishing, and rudimentary craftsmanship.
Medieval Emergence
The village's true historical records begin to surface in the medieval period. By the 9th century, Curiglia had gained recognition as a notable settlement within the Lombard Kingdom. Its strategic location along trade routes made it a vital crossroads for merchants traveling between northern Europe and the Mediterranean. This led to a burgeoning local economy, with markets and fairs becoming integral to village life.
Lordship and Renaissance
As feudalism took hold, Curiglia came under the rule of local nobles, such as the Visconti family. The village experienced a period of growth during the Renaissance, as artistic and intellectual endeavors flourished across Italy. Curiglia's residents engaged in agricultural innovation, adopting new techniques to maximize crop yield. This era also witnessed the construction of architectural landmarks that still stand today, including the Church of San Pietro, which showcases exquisite examples of Gothic and Renaissance architecture.
Turmoil and Resilience
The 16th and 17th centuries brought about a series of challenges to Curiglia. The region was plagued by conflicts, including invasions by foreign powers and internal struggles for power. The village endured occupations and had to adapt to changing rulers. Despite the turmoil, the resilient community held onto its cultural identity, passing down traditions through generations.
Modernization and Industrialization
The 18th century marked a period of relative stability and gradual modernization. Curiglia, like many rural areas in Europe, began to experience the influence of the Enlightenment. Education and knowledge dissemination gained importance, leading to the establishment of local schools. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, neighboring cities witnessed significant growth, impacting the village's demographic landscape as well.
World Wars and Contemporary Era
The 20th century brought with it the challenges of two World Wars. Curiglia, although far from the frontlines, was not immune to the effects of conflict. The village played its part by supporting the war effort and absorbing refugees fleeing from more heavily impacted regions. In the post-war years, as Italy underwent rapid urbanization and economic transformation, Curiglia faced the pressures of depopulation as the younger generation sought opportunities in cities.
Preservation and Tourism
In recent decades, the village's historical significance and picturesque setting have attracted attention from both preservationists and tourists. Efforts to restore and protect Curiglia's cultural heritage have been undertaken, with initiatives to maintain traditional architecture and promote local crafts. The village's unique charm, characterized by narrow cobblestone streets and ancient stone houses, has led to an increase in tourism, offering visitors a glimpse into the past while contributing to the local economy.
Conclusion
As we reflect on the journey of Curiglia through time, we find a village that has weathered the storms of history while staying true to its roots. From its ancient beginnings as a small settlement to its present-day status as a preserved gem, Curiglia's story encapsulates the essence of Italy's diverse and resilient cultural tapestry. As the village continues to navigate the challenges of the modern world, its history serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving heritage while embracing progress.
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti - Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (IVSLA) / Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters & Arts, Campo San Vidal 2847, San Marco, 30124 Venezia, VE, IT 02/35
Lee Miller - Man Ray. Moda, Amore, Guerra / Fashion, Love, War - Nov. 5th 2022 - Apr. 10th 2023 02/20
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; Aug. 27th 1890 - Nov. 18th 1976) - Lacrime (volto intero con le lacrime) / Tears (Whole Face with Tears) (1930)
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.
It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Many famous people have owned homes on the shores of Lake Como.
One of its particularities is its "Y" shape, which forms the "Larian Triangle", with the little town of Canzo as its capital.
In 2014, The Huffington Post described it as the most beautiful lake in the world for its microclimate and environment with prestigious villas and villages.
Etymology
The lake's name in Latin is Larius, Italianized as Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como (literally "lake of Como"). Its name comes from the city of Como, known to the Romans as Comum.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like an inverted letter "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a boat service operates a triangular route between them.
Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake (between Como, Bellagio, and Lecco) is known as the Larian Triangle, or Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità Montana del Triangolo lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities that represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Como lake in Italy
Lake Como's climate is humid subtropical (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification system). In winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region. Average daily temperatures range from ~3.7 °C (39 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74 °F) in July, according to historical weather data from Como. Water temperatures can reach an average of 24 °C (75 °F) in July. Snowfall is erratic and occurs mainly at higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.
History
At the beginning of the first millennium B.C. during the Iron Age, the Comum oppidum was born and the civilization of Como developed, inserted in the broader Golasecca culture. In 196 B.C. the army of the consul Claudius Marcellus defeats the Celts tribe of the Comenses and conquers the city. Comum was then strengthened and rebuilt after a raid by Rhaetian and repopulated with 3,000 settlers in 77 BC. Finally, after having reclaimed the marshy area, in 59 B.C. it was re-founded with the name of Novum Comun in its current location on the lake shore at the behest of Gaius Julius Caesar.[6] Pliny the Younger, in one of his Epistulae, describes the lake and its surrounding area as providing plentiful opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, at least since the 4th century, a Praefectus commanding a Roman military fleet was present on the lake.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the waters of the lake were the scene of military clashes, such as in the 12th century during the war of Milan against Como, which saw the Como fleet in action against the ships of the Milanese and their allies or between 1525 and 1532 due to the Musso war unleashed by Gian Giacomo Medici
On 28 April 1945, deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed in the lakeside village of Giulino, about 180 metres (590 ft) from the waterfront.
Tourism and Economy
As a tourist destination, Lake Como is popular for its landscapes, wildlife, and spas. It is a venue for sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing.
Although generally considered safe, bathers aiming to find relief from the heat and swimming enthusiasts alike should exercise caution, as a prevailing regulation prohibits diving and swimming both in the city of Como and in the various small villages along the lake. Exceptions are found only in privately managed lidos or designated public beaches where explicit signage permits swimming activities. This prohibition stems from the danger posed by the lake's waters that swiftly transition from shallow to deep near the shoreline and from unpredictable aquatic conditions, which have led to numerous incidents, including drowning cases attributed to sudden thermal shock.
In the area surrounding Lake Como, there are several farms which produce goods such as honey, olive oil, cheese, milk, eggs and salamis. Visitors can find lists of these farms and typically visit the farm itself in person to make their purchases.
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas that have been built there since Roman times when Pliny the Younger built the Comedia and the Tragedia resorts. Many villas on the lake shores have admirable gardens that benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilizing presence of 22.5 cubic kilometres (5.4 cu mi) of lake water and can sustain many subtropical and Mediterranean plants.
Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese Marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 7 hectares (17 acres) at Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden (with steps, fountains, and sculptures) was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to powerful banker and Napoleonic politician Giovanni Battista Sommariva. Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of La Chartreuse de Parme. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen, laid out the woodland landscape park in Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva's friend Antonio Canova and by Luigi Acquisti.
Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–1817 the villa was home to Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century, it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d'Este is known for attracting celebrity guests.[citation needed]
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near Isola Comacina. Built-in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.[citation needed]
Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio was built in neo-classical style by architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–1810 as the summer residence of Duke Francesco Melzi d'Eril, who was vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. The park includes an orangery, a private chapel, fine statues, and a Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on Lake Como, with huge rhododendrons. 19th-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and Franz Liszt.
Villa Serbelloni, also in Bellagio, hosts the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) international conference centre set up and managed by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which also operates a "scholar-in-residence" program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger's villa "Tragedia". Its well-known park was created at the end of the 18th century by Alessandro Serbelloni.[citation needed]
Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, Pierina Legnani, Lionel Messi and José Mourinho.
Ferries
The Lake Como ferry service is a highly developed public transport system linking the many small towns around the Lake. A motorized service began in 1826 when a steamship with sails, the Lario, was launched by the newly established Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto. Since 1952 the system has been run under the auspices of a government organization called first the Gestione Commissariale Governativa and subsequently the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi, which is also responsible for services on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda.
Today there are three main services:
Motorship services along the western branch and northern end of the Lake (between Colico or Piona and Como town), with additional shuttles to the mid-lake area.
Fast services that follow broadly the same route, but use faster hydrofoils, stop less frequently, and cost extra.
Ferries that run only between the popular mid-lake villages of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna, plus Cadenabbia. Some of these boats carry vehicles as well as passengers.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio ("Holy Mount of Ossuccio") is a sanctuary located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing Isola Comacina. Fifteen Baroque-inspiredchapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 2003, the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, including that of Ossuccio, were added by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
Villages, resorts, and other notable localities near the lake
Cities and villages on Lake Como
Western shore
from North to SouthSouth shore
from West to EastEastern shore
from North to South
Domaso
Gravedona
Dongo
Musso
Menaggio
Cadenabbia
Griante
Tremezzo
Mezzegra
Lenno
Ossuccio
Sala Comacina
Colonno
Argegno
Brienno
Moltrasio
Cernobbio
Como
Como
Blevio
Brunate
Torno
Nesso
Bellagio
Malgrate
Lecco
Colico
Dorio
Dervio
Bellano
Varenna
Lierna
Mandello del Lario
Lecco
In literature and the arts
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Lake of Como was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, in 1837. It illustrates a painting by Samuel Prout, engraved by William Miller.
In 1818 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Thomas Love Peacock: "This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty, except the arbutus islands of Killarney. It is long and narrow, and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests."
Dumenza ( Duménsa in Varese dialect ) is an Italian municipality of 1,438 inhabitants in the province of Varese in Lombardy .
It is made up of the hamlets of Runo , Due Cossani , Stivigliano, Trezzino, Vignone and Torbera and other various localities.
Physical geography
The territory is crossed by the Rio Colmegnino , which originates in the locality of Regordallo ( Due Cossani ) from Mount Colmegnino and flows into Lake Maggiore at the level of the Colmegna di Luino hamlet . However, the valley dug in this way takes the name of Val Dumentina (also called Valle Smeralda due to its green colours). To the north of Colmegnino stands Monte Lema , which with its 1624 meters above sea level is an excellent panoramic peak, the highest in the Luinese area, served by a cable car on the Swiss side , from Miglieglia . In fact, Dumenza borders Switzerland and hosts a pedestrian crossing in Palone (Dumenza). To the north, however, it borders Val Veddasca , which can be accessed by continuing along provincial road 6.
Origins of the name
Various theories justify the toponym . The most probable is that it derives from a person's name: in the lists of "fires" (i.e. families) of the municipality, the name Dugmentio appears among some heads of families . It could derive from dux mensae or from loco mensa . In fact, only in one historical document, from another municipality, does it appear as Locomenza .
History
Two stone brackets decorated with human faces, found by the parish priest Parapini in the church, date back to 909. They are now found at the base of the tower. But these districts are already mentioned in an 18th century document which testifies how King Liutprand donated the lands of Valtravaglia to the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia .
The bell tower of the church of San Giorgio , in Runo , seems to have had a military role in the period before the year 1000 , during the various barbarian invasions : in fact, the road that led from Varese to Luino and then to Dumenza was the only one that accessed Bellinzona , as the long lake did not exist. It was probably part of a system of towers along these valleys, of which Runo's is the only one surviving.
From the 16th century it was under the lordship of the rich and powerful Moriggia family
In the Napoleonic era the municipality annexed Runo for the first time . The first city council was elected in 1821 . In 1928 fascism gave the municipality its current extension by incorporating Due Cossani and Runo.
Monuments and places of interest
The church of San Nazario.
The church of the Immaculate Conception (of the former institute of the Ursuline nuns).
The church of San Giorgio in Runo
The historic center of Dumenza is characterized by rural houses with large sunny balconies.
Stivigliano
Stivigliano maintains its medieval conformation intact, with narrow streets and houses close together. An old turret is visible overlooking the Val Dumentina, evidently for military purposes.
Dumenza ( Duménsa in Varese dialect ) is an Italian municipality of 1,438 inhabitants in the province of Varese in Lombardy .
It is made up of the hamlets of Runo , Due Cossani , Stivigliano, Trezzino, Vignone and Torbera and other various localities.
Physical geography
The territory is crossed by the Rio Colmegnino , which originates in the locality of Regordallo ( Due Cossani ) from Mount Colmegnino and flows into Lake Maggiore at the level of the Colmegna di Luino hamlet . However, the valley dug in this way takes the name of Val Dumentina (also called Valle Smeralda due to its green colours). To the north of Colmegnino stands Monte Lema , which with its 1624 meters above sea level is an excellent panoramic peak, the highest in the Luinese area, served by a cable car on the Swiss side , from Miglieglia . In fact, Dumenza borders Switzerland and hosts a pedestrian crossing in Palone (Dumenza). To the north, however, it borders Val Veddasca , which can be accessed by continuing along provincial road 6.
Origins of the name
Various theories justify the toponym . The most probable is that it derives from a person's name: in the lists of "fires" (i.e. families) of the municipality, the name Dugmentio appears among some heads of families . It could derive from dux mensae or from loco mensa . In fact, only in one historical document, from another municipality, does it appear as Locomenza .
History
Two stone brackets decorated with human faces, found by the parish priest Parapini in the church, date back to 909. They are now found at the base of the tower. But these districts are already mentioned in an 18th century document which testifies how King Liutprand donated the lands of Valtravaglia to the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia .
The bell tower of the church of San Giorgio , in Runo , seems to have had a military role in the period before the year 1000 , during the various barbarian invasions : in fact, the road that led from Varese to Luino and then to Dumenza was the only one that accessed Bellinzona , as the long lake did not exist. It was probably part of a system of towers along these valleys, of which Runo's is the only one surviving.
From the 16th century it was under the lordship of the rich and powerful Moriggia family
In the Napoleonic era the municipality annexed Runo for the first time . The first city council was elected in 1821 . In 1928 fascism gave the municipality its current extension by incorporating Due Cossani and Runo.
Monuments and places of interest
The church of San Nazario.
The church of the Immaculate Conception (of the former institute of the Ursuline nuns).
The church of San Giorgio in Runo
The historic center of Dumenza is characterized by rural houses with large sunny balconies.
Stivigliano
Stivigliano maintains its medieval conformation intact, with narrow streets and houses close together. An old turret is visible overlooking the Val Dumentina, evidently for military purposes.
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.
It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Many famous people have owned homes on the shores of Lake Como.
One of its particularities is its "Y" shape, which forms the "Larian Triangle", with the little town of Canzo as its capital.
In 2014, The Huffington Post described it as the most beautiful lake in the world for its microclimate and environment with prestigious villas and villages.
Etymology
The lake's name in Latin is Larius, Italianized as Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como (literally "lake of Como"). Its name comes from the city of Como, known to the Romans as Comum.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like an inverted letter "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a boat service operates a triangular route between them.
Lake Como is fed primarily by the Adda, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake (between Como, Bellagio, and Lecco) is known as the Larian Triangle, or Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità Montana del Triangolo lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities that represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Como lake in Italy
Lake Como's climate is humid subtropical (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification system). In winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region. Average daily temperatures range from ~3.7 °C (39 °F) in January to 23.4 °C (74 °F) in July, according to historical weather data from Como. Water temperatures can reach an average of 24 °C (75 °F) in July. Snowfall is erratic and occurs mainly at higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.
History
At the beginning of the first millennium B.C. during the Iron Age, the Comum oppidum was born and the civilization of Como developed, inserted in the broader Golasecca culture. In 196 B.C. the army of the consul Claudius Marcellus defeats the Celts tribe of the Comenses and conquers the city. Comum was then strengthened and rebuilt after a raid by Rhaetian and repopulated with 3,000 settlers in 77 BC. Finally, after having reclaimed the marshy area, in 59 B.C. it was re-founded with the name of Novum Comun in its current location on the lake shore at the behest of Gaius Julius Caesar.[6] Pliny the Younger, in one of his Epistulae, describes the lake and its surrounding area as providing plentiful opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, at least since the 4th century, a Praefectus commanding a Roman military fleet was present on the lake.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the waters of the lake were the scene of military clashes, such as in the 12th century during the war of Milan against Como, which saw the Como fleet in action against the ships of the Milanese and their allies or between 1525 and 1532 due to the Musso war unleashed by Gian Giacomo Medici
On 28 April 1945, deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed in the lakeside village of Giulino, about 180 metres (590 ft) from the waterfront.
Tourism and Economy
As a tourist destination, Lake Como is popular for its landscapes, wildlife, and spas. It is a venue for sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing.
Although generally considered safe, bathers aiming to find relief from the heat and swimming enthusiasts alike should exercise caution, as a prevailing regulation prohibits diving and swimming both in the city of Como and in the various small villages along the lake. Exceptions are found only in privately managed lidos or designated public beaches where explicit signage permits swimming activities. This prohibition stems from the danger posed by the lake's waters that swiftly transition from shallow to deep near the shoreline and from unpredictable aquatic conditions, which have led to numerous incidents, including drowning cases attributed to sudden thermal shock.
In the area surrounding Lake Como, there are several farms which produce goods such as honey, olive oil, cheese, milk, eggs and salamis. Visitors can find lists of these farms and typically visit the farm itself in person to make their purchases.
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas that have been built there since Roman times when Pliny the Younger built the Comedia and the Tragedia resorts. Many villas on the lake shores have admirable gardens that benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilizing presence of 22.5 cubic kilometres (5.4 cu mi) of lake water and can sustain many subtropical and Mediterranean plants.
Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese Marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 7 hectares (17 acres) at Tremezzo, facing the Bellagio peninsula. An Italian garden (with steps, fountains, and sculptures) was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to powerful banker and Napoleonic politician Giovanni Battista Sommariva. Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of La Chartreuse de Parme. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen, laid out the woodland landscape park in Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva's friend Antonio Canova and by Luigi Acquisti.
Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–1817 the villa was home to Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century, it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d'Este is known for attracting celebrity guests.[citation needed]
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near Isola Comacina. Built-in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.[citation needed]
Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio was built in neo-classical style by architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–1810 as the summer residence of Duke Francesco Melzi d'Eril, who was vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. The park includes an orangery, a private chapel, fine statues, and a Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on Lake Como, with huge rhododendrons. 19th-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and Franz Liszt.
Villa Serbelloni, also in Bellagio, hosts the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) international conference centre set up and managed by the Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which also operates a "scholar-in-residence" program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger's villa "Tragedia". Its well-known park was created at the end of the 18th century by Alessandro Serbelloni.[citation needed]
Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, Pierina Legnani, Lionel Messi and José Mourinho.
Ferries
The Lake Como ferry service is a highly developed public transport system linking the many small towns around the Lake. A motorized service began in 1826 when a steamship with sails, the Lario, was launched by the newly established Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto. Since 1952 the system has been run under the auspices of a government organization called first the Gestione Commissariale Governativa and subsequently the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi, which is also responsible for services on Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda.
Today there are three main services:
Motorship services along the western branch and northern end of the Lake (between Colico or Piona and Como town), with additional shuttles to the mid-lake area.
Fast services that follow broadly the same route, but use faster hydrofoils, stop less frequently, and cost extra.
Ferries that run only between the popular mid-lake villages of Menaggio, Bellagio, and Varenna, plus Cadenabbia. Some of these boats carry vehicles as well as passengers.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio ("Holy Mount of Ossuccio") is a sanctuary located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing Isola Comacina. Fifteen Baroque-inspiredchapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin.
In 2003, the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, including that of Ossuccio, were added by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
Villages, resorts, and other notable localities near the lake
Cities and villages on Lake Como
Western shore
from North to SouthSouth shore
from West to EastEastern shore
from North to South
Domaso
Gravedona
Dongo
Musso
Menaggio
Cadenabbia
Griante
Tremezzo
Mezzegra
Lenno
Ossuccio
Sala Comacina
Colonno
Argegno
Brienno
Moltrasio
Cernobbio
Como
Como
Blevio
Brunate
Torno
Nesso
Bellagio
Malgrate
Lecco
Colico
Dorio
Dervio
Bellano
Varenna
Lierna
Mandello del Lario
Lecco
In literature and the arts
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem The Lake of Como was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, in 1837. It illustrates a painting by Samuel Prout, engraved by William Miller.
In 1818 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Thomas Love Peacock: "This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty, except the arbutus islands of Killarney. It is long and narrow, and has the appearance of a mighty river winding among the mountains and the forests."
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.
On Ponte degli Scalzi / Bridge of the Barefoot (Monks) - See Canal Grande / Grand Canal w. Palazzo Adoldo, Palazzo Foscari Contarini, Chiesa di San Simeone e Giuda vulgo San Simeon Piccolo / Church of Sts. Simeon and Jude, Palazzo Emo Diedo, Ponte de la Croce, Giardini Papadopoli, Ponte & Rio Novo, Hotel Santa Chiara, Palazzo della Regione / Palace of Veneto Region (former Dipartimento Ferroviario / Rlwy. Admin. Dept.)
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
Early history (before 1200)
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population.[3] In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Modern history (1900 to present)
Population
For the modern era it is possible to offer a quantitative estimate of the population of the Alpine region. Within the area delimited by the Alpine Convention, there were about 3.1 million inhabitants in 1500, 5.8 in 1800, 8.5 in 1900 and 13.9 in 2000.
Sixteenth-century scholars, especially those from cities near the Alps, began to show a greater interest for the mountain phenomena. Their curiosity was also aroused by important questions of the genesis of the earth and the interpretation of the Bible. By the eighteenth century, a distinctive enthusiasm for nature and the Alps spread in European society. An example thereof is the famous multi-volume work "Voyages dans les Alpes" (1779–1796) by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. In his work the naturalist from Geneva described, among other things, his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc at 4800 metres above sea level. This new interest is also reflected in literature, most notably by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s best-selling romantic novel "Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise" (1761). These cultural developments resulted in a growth of interest in the Alps as a travel destination and laid the foundation for modern tourism. As Europe was getting increasingly more urbanised, the Alps distinguished themselves as a place of nature. During the colonial expansion many mountains in Asia, Australia and America were now named after the Alps as well.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several important changes occurred. First, the Alpine population was now characterised by a particular growth rate, which was increasingly differentiated from that of the more dynamic non-mountain areas. Second, the migratory fluxes became ever more important and ever more directed toward extra-European destinations. Beginning in the early twentieth century, several regions were affected by depopulation. This process amplified the imbalanced distribution of the population within the Alps, because the urban centres at lower altitudes experienced strong growth and clearly became the most important dynamic localities during the twentieth century.
Economy
The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the agriculture sector started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing specialised crops in valley bottoms and reinforcing cattle-raising at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of industrialisation in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as iron manufacturing, which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations. On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to electric power, one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of hydroelectric power. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.
However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine health resorts and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century. For a long time, transit traffic and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the Semmering (1854), the Brenner (1867), the Fréjus/Mont-Cenis (1871), the Gotthard (1882), the Simplon (1906) and the Tauern (1909). In 2016 opened the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.
In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the human impact on the environment.
Political history
Like other parts of Europe, the Alpine region was affected by the formation of the nation states that produced tensions between various groups and had consequences for border areas. In these regions, the coercive power of the state was felt much more strongly that it had been before. Borders lost their permeability and now bisected areas formerly characterised by a shared sense of community and ongoing exchanges. During World War I the eastern Alpine region was one of the epicentres of the conflict.
After World War II, the Alps entered a new phase. At one and the same time, regional identities were reinforced and a common Alpine identity was constructed. A remarkable step was made in 1991 with the signing of the Alpine Convention between all Alpine countries and the European Union. This process was strengthened by the appearance of a new set of cultural values for the Alps. In the nineteenth century, there had been a tension between the romantic advocates of the "sacredness" of the Alpine peaks (such as John Ruskin), and modern mountain climbers (such as Leslie Stephen), who promoted the notion of the Alps as the "playground of Europe". In the twentieth century, the mountains acquired a clearly positive, iconic, status as places unsullied by undesirable urban influences such as pollution, noise and so on.
Tourism and alpinism
The fascination that the Alps exerted on the British has to be related to the general increase in charm and appeal of this mountain range during the eighteenth century. Yet British particularities were involved as well. Traditionally, many Englishmen felt the attraction of the Mediterranean, which was associated with the practice of the Grand Tour, and thus had to cross Europe and the Alps to reach it. From a place of transit, the Alps turned into a tourist destination as the flow of people and means of transport increased. Moreover, with the invention of new sports the Alps became an area of experimental training. The Alps offered many mountain climbers a degree of difficulty that fit their expectations.
The convergence of these phenomena granted to Alpine tourism a central position. It intensified from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards and, in spite of fluctuations, would never lose its importance. Railway companies, travel guides, travelogues and travel agents joined forces to make the Alps a prestigious tourist destination. With Thomas Cook in particular, the Alps appeared, as early as 1861, in the catalog of tourist offers and were instrumental in the establishment of a "truly international industry" of tourism. This industry developed the infrastructure: railway lines, hotels and other services such as casinos, promenades, improvements, and funiculars.
The conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the incredible success of the mountains but it also reflects the tensions that emerged among their visitors. There was a clash between the "real enthusiasts", sensitive to beauty, and the "flock of ordinary tourists" sticking to their customs and comforts.
During the twentieth century, then, the Alps were involved in the globalisation of tourism, a process that caused the multiplication of its destinations. However, in the British population these mountains retained an undeniable attraction. In fact, the British continued to view winter sports in particular (such as skiing, skating, bobsleigh, curling) as significant grounds for justifying their travel and their perpetuation of a unique culture. The personalities of Gavin de Beer and Arnold Lunn represent this attitude through a prolific interpretation of this mountain range from every possible perspective. Indeed, the British have never ceased to love and be attracted to the Alps. This is not likely to end soon, if the advertisements and presentations of the major Alpine resorts that intersperse the Sunday editions of the major newspapers are any indicator.
Linguistic history
Further information: Linguistic geography of Switzerland
The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic sprachraums. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Romansh, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic.
As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of South Tyrol. There are Walser German speakers to found in northern Italy near the Swiss border. There are some French and Franco-Provencal-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley, while there are clusters of Slovene-speakers in the Italian portion of the Julian Alps, in the Resia Valley (where the archaic Resian dialect of Slovene is still spoken) and in the mountain district known as Venetian Slovenia.