Rocciamelone ( pms, Ròcia-mlon, french: Rochemelon or ''Roche Melon'') is a 3,538 m high

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in Piedmont, Italy, near the border between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Geography

Rocciamelone is located between

Val di Susa The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south ...

and

Maurienne Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Location The Mau ...

, 50 km west of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

. Its summit is the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, la ...

where the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (''Regions of Italy, regioni'') and provinces (''Provinces ...

s of Usseglio,

Novalesa Novalesa ( pms, Novalèisa, frp, Nonalésa, french: Novalaise) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km west of Turin, on the border with France. Novalesa borde ...

and Mompantero meet. The international border crosses the ''Glacier de Rochemelon'' 1 kilometer north of the summit, making it appear that the border is not following the watershed precisely in this sector. However, the glacier is draped over a ridge that is the true watershed and is precisely followed by the borderline.

SOIUSA classification

According to the

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was desi ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain can be classified in the following way: * main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzerland ( ...

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

Graian Alps The Graian Alps (french: Alpes grées ; it, Alpi Graie ) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. Etymology The name ''Graie'' comes from the ''Graioceli'' Celtic tribe, which dwelled in the area surrounding the Mont Cenis pass and ...

* subsection = Southern Graian Alps * supergroup = catena Rocciamelone-Charbonnel * group = gruppo del Rocciamelone * subgroup = nodo del Rocciamelone *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

= I/B-7.I-A.2.a

History

The teutonic knight Bonifacius Rotarius (of

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a '' comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed ...

) made the

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of Rocciamelone on 1 September 1358, to bring a small metal image of the Holy Virgin as a gesture of gratitude for having survived captivity in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

during a war against the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. The summit of Rocciamelone is the destination of a traditional pilgrimage, every year, on August 5. A three-metre-high () statue of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

was erected there in 1899.

Access to the summit

Because of its easy access (the start of the summit trail can be reached in a 90-minute drive from

), its considerable height and the panorama, this mountain is one of the most frequented of the western part of the Alps.

Mountain huts

* Rifugio Cà d'Asti (2,854 m - Mompantero) * Rifugio Ernesto Tazzetti (2,642 - Usseglio) * Rifugio Santa Maria (close to the summit)

Notes

Maps

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy. Overvie ...

(IGM) official maps of Italy, 1:25.000 and 1:100.000 scale
on-line version
* Istituto Geografico Centrale (IGC) - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 2 ''Valli di Lanzo e Moncenisio'' * Istituto Geografico Centrale - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:25.000 n.110 ''Alte Valli di Lanzo (Rocciamelone - Uja di Ciamarella - Le Levanne)''

External links

Rocciamelone

{{Authority control Mountains of Piedmont Mountains of the Graian Alps Alpine three-thousanders Three-thousanders of Italy Metropolitan City of Turin