The Matter Valley (German: Mattertal, or sometimes ''Nikolaital'') is located in southwestern

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, south of the Rhone valley in the canton of Valais. The village of

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...

is the most important settlement of the valley, which is surrounded by many four-thousanders, including the Matterhorn.

Geography

Located in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Ital ...

, the Matter Valley is drained by the

Matter Vispa The Vispa is a river in the canton of Valais, located in the Visp area. It is essentially composed of two large branches: the Matter Vispa and the Saaser Vispa, converging at Stalden, then forming the Vispa proper, flowing for less than before ...

, a tributary of the Rhone. The valley itself ends at

Stalden Stalden () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies at the foot of the Mischabelhörner and Dom (). History Stalden is first mentioned in 1213 as ''Morgi''. In 1224 it was mentioned as ''Stal ...

where it meets the

Saas Valley The Saastal or the Saas Valley is an alpine valley in the district of Visp, in the eastern part of the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the valley of the river Saaser Vispa. It is separated from the Mattertal to the west by the Mischabel ...

. The resulting Visp Valley continues for a few kilometres until it reaches the town of Visp on the young river Rhone. The valley starts between the high summits south of

(

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

, Matterhorn) on the border with

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 ...

. The upper side is glaciated, the second largest glacier of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, the Gorner Glacier lies at the foot of Monte Rosa (4,634 m), while the

Zmutt Glacier The Zmutt Glacier (german: Zmuttgletscher) is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . See also *List of glaciers in Switzerland *List of glaciers *Retreat of glacie ...

lies at the foot of the Matterhorn (4,478 m). Around the village of

Randa Randa may refer to: *Jrarrat, Kotayk, Armenia, formerly ''Randa'' *Randa, Djibouti *Randa, Switzerland *Randa, Mallorca *Randa rockslides of 1991 (Switzerland) *Randa Accessories, an American company *Puig de Randa, a summit in the Balearic Islands ...

are located the Weisshorn (4,505 m) and the Dom (4,545 m). The difference of height between the

talweg In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the bound ...

and the summits on both side reaches over 3 km. The total length of the valley is about 40 km.

Settlements

(1,600 m), with approx. 5,600 inhabitants, is the largest and highest town in the valley.

St. Niklaus :''See Saint Nicholas (disambiguation) for disambiguation.'' St. Niklaus (french: Saint-Nicolas) is a village and a municipality in the Mattertal, part of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History St. Niklaus is firs ...

follows with 2,400 inhabitants. Between them are located the smaller villages of

Täsch Täsch is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is located about north of Zermatt. The local language is Swiss German. History Täsch is first mentioned in 1302 as ''Tech''. In Latin it was known ...

and

. The villages of Grächen,

Embd Embd is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Embd is first mentioned in 1250 as ''Emeda''. In 1330 it was mentioned as ''Embda'' and ''Emda''. Geography Embd has an area, , of . Of this area ...

and Törbel are located above the valley.

, located at the end of the valley, is the lowest village (800 m).

Transport

Since the end of the nineteenth century the upper end of the valley is connected by rail from Visp ( Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn). If the main road connect Zermatt from Visp, it cannot be used between Täsch and Zermatt, the latter being completely car-free. Since 1930 the valley is directly connected to St. Moritz by the Glacier Express panoramic train.

References

* Swisstopo maps {{Authority control Landforms of Valais Valleys of the Alps Valleys of Switzerland