Bocchetta Pass or Bochetta Pass or Passo della Bocchetta is a mountain

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *El Paso, Texas, a city which translates to "The Pass" * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see Li ...

in the Ligurian

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

north of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The summit of the pass is at an elevation of 772 meters (2,532 feet).

Geography

It is crossed by a highway that connects Genoa and

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

. An old

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

ran through Bocchetta Pass from Genua (modern Genoa) to

Dertona Tortona (; , ; ) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Its ''frazione'' of Vho is one of I ...

(modern

Tortona Tortona (; , ; ) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Spinetta Marengo, Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Its ''frazione'' of ...

).''Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'', p. 59 The Bocchetta Pass is located about north of Genoa. From the south, the SP5 (Provincial) highway follows the Polcevera valley north from the town of

Campomorone Campomorone () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about north of Genoa. Campomorone borders the following municipalities: Bosio, Ceranesi, Fraconalto, Genoa, Mignanego, and ...

. From the north, the SP160 highway approaches the pass along the Lemme valley via the towns of

Gavi GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a Public–private partnership, public–private global health partnership with the goal of incr ...

and Voltaggio. Currently, most traffic uses the Autostrada A7 which runs through the mountains to the east.

Hiking

The pass is also accessible by off-road mountain paths and is crossed by the ''

Alta Via dei Monti Liguri The ''Alta Via dei Monti Liguri'' (AV, literally "High Route of the Ligurian Mountains") is a long-distance waymarking, waymarked hiking trail in the Italy, Italian region of Liguria. In about and 44 day hikes, it runs through the arc forme ...

'', a long-distance trail from

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...

(province of

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

) to

Bolano Bolano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of La Spezia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa and about northeast of La Spezia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,490 and an area of .All de ...

(province of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

History

The Roman consul

Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus was a politician of ancient Rome, of patrician rank, during the 2nd century BC. He was consul in 148 BC, in which year a great fire happened at Rome. It is this Spurius Albinus of whom Cicero speaks in the ''Bru ...

had the

Via Postumia The Via Postumia was an ancient military Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus. It ran from the coast at Genoa through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia (the termination of the ...

built in 148 BC. The Roman road connected Genoa with

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, and

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. At

Calvatone Calvatone () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona, Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about east of Cremona. Its territory is crossed by the Oglio River. In Roman times it was known as Bedriacum. History In the ...

(known as Bedriacum in Roman times) the road forked and the northern branch went to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

while the southern branch went to

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. During the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

the Bocchetta Pass was located in territory belonging to the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. Its north side was guarded by the fortress of Gavi.

Notes

References

*''Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1997. . Mountain passes of Liguria Mountain passes of Piedmont Mountain passes of the Apennines {{Liguria-geo-stub

Geography

Hiking

History

See also

Notes

References