The Valle Po (literally "Po valley") is a valley of the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus R ...

in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy.

Geography

The valley gives rise to the longest river in Italy, the Po, before it enters the

Pianura Padana The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

(or Plain of the Po). It has a length of some 32 km, from Saluzzo to

Crissolo Crissolo (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Criçòl'', French: Crusol) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo, on the border with France. The source o ...

, and is home to the

Monviso Monte Viso or Monviso (; oc, Vísol; Piedmontese: ''Brich Monviso'' or ''Viso'') is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps. It is located in Italy close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape and, because it ...

mountain. It is bounded by the

Val Pellice The Pellice (in Piedmontese ''Pélis'') is a Italian torrent, which runs through the Metropolitan City of Turin. The stream is a tributary of the Po River, into which it flows near Villafranca Piemonte. Geography The stream is formed at the weste ...

Valle Varaita Varaita Valley (in Italian ''Valle Varaita'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont, in the Province of Cuneo - Italy. Etymology It takes its name from the Varaita, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the valley. Geography Clo ...

and the

Valle del Guil Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombi ...

. The head of the valley is located at the Traversette pass (''Colle delle Traversette'') (2950 m above sea level). The valley descends through the King's plain ('' Pian del Re'') (2020 m), where the Po river has its source.

Geography

See also