Bardonecchia (; french: Bardonèche or ; pms, Bardonecia ; oc, Bardonescha ) is an Italian town and ''

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 ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' located in the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin ( it, Città metropolitana di Torino, Piedmontese: ''Sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a metropolitan city in the Piedmont region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the Province of Turin and ...

, in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region, in the western part of

Susa Valley 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 so ...

. It grew out of a small village with the works for the Frejus Rail Tunnel, the first crossing the Alps. The town hosted the

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

events of the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Geography

The town, which is located about from

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...

at the intersection of four valleys, is surrounded by mountains, including several whose peaks surpass . The historic center is set back and elevated (Borgo Vecchio), while the new part of town was built around the train station (Borgo Nuovo). The town has grown thanks to activities related to customs, logistics, and tourism; as a result, it has incorporated some neighboring villages and thus is one of the largest towns in the Susa Valley. Bardonecchia is at one end of both the

Fréjus Road Tunnel The Fréjus Road Tunnel is a tunnel that connects France and Italy. It runs under Col du Fréjus in the Cottian Alps between Modane in France and Bardonecchia in Italy. It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes between France and It ...

and the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, part of a TGV Paris to Milan connection. The municipality of Bardonecchia contains the ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Les Arnauds, Melezet, Millaures, Le Gleise, Beaulard, Grange Horres, La Rho and Rochemolles. Bardonecchia borders the following municipalities:

Avrieux Avrieux is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Geography Climate Avrieux has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfb''). The average annual temperature in Avr ...

(France), Bramans (France), Exilles, Modane (France), Névache (France), Oulx. Bardonecchia is the westernmost comune in Italy.

Sport

Sportroccia Sportroccia was the very first international climbing competition. Four annual Sportroccia editions were held in 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989, in the village of Bardonecchia and Arco, Italy. History The first edition of Sportroccia was organized ...

—first international

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically a ...

competition (1985–1989).

References

:''This article contains information from the French, Italian, and German Wikipedias.''
2006 Winter Olympics official report.
Volume 3. pp. 59–60.

External links

Official site of the town

Unofficial site

Weather Bardonecchia
Olympic snowboarding venues Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics {{Winter-Olympic-venue-stub