Colma di Mombarone (or simply ''Mombarone)'' is a mountain of the

Biellese Alps The Biellese Alps (''Alpi Biellesi'' or ''Prealpi Biellesi'' in Italian) are a sub-range of the Pennine Alps located between Piemonte and Aosta Valley (Italy). Etymology ''Alpi Biellesi'' literally means ''Alps of Biellese''; ''Biellese'' is th ...

, a sub-range of

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as the Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont) an ...

, in northern

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 ...

. It visually marks, along with Monte Gregorio on the opposite side, the entrance of the

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

from the

Po plain The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic extension not actually related t ...

. In 1900, a huge statue of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, still located there, was built on the top.

Etymology

The name comes from the

Piedmontese language Piedmontese ( ; autonym: or ; ) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, a region of Northwest Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate Romance languages, language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regar ...

: ''Colma'' is a term used in the northern Piedmont to refer to a

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 ...

or a high place, while ''Mombarone'' is the italianisation of the piedmontese ''Monbaron'', where ''mon'' means ''mount'' and ''baron'' means ''heap'' or ''pile''.

Geography

The mountain is located between the

Dora Baltea The Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in the Aosta Valley and in Piedmont, in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duri ...

and Cervo valleys, on the border between the

Province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

and the

province of Biella The province of Biella (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''provincia ëd Biela'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. It was created in 1992 and its capital is the city of Biella. Culture Biella is home to th ...

, both in

Piemonte Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the northwest. Pied ...

region. Administratively it is divided between the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

s of

Settimo Vittone Settimo Vittone () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is located about north of Turin, in the Canavese traditional region. Main sights The main sights are the castle, pieve (pleban chu ...

(in the

province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

), Donato and

Graglia Graglia () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Biella Biella (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the northern Italy, Italian regio ...

(both in the

SOIUSA classification

According to the

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

(''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 Alps, 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 Switzer ...

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

* subsection = Southern Valsesia Alps * supergroup =

Alpi Biellesi The Biellese Alps (''Alpi Biellesi'' or ''Prealpi Biellesi'' in Italian) are a sub-range of the Pennine Alps located between Piemonte and Aosta Valley (Italy). Etymology ''Alpi Biellesi'' literally means ''Alps of Biellese''; ''Biellese'' is th ...

* group = Catena Tre Vescovi - Mars * subgroup = *

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-9.IV-A.1

Access to the summit

The easiest routes to the summit are two long but well marked footpaths, one starting from San Giacomo di

Andrate Andrate (Piedmontese: ''Andrà'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about north of Turin. Andrate borders the following municipalities: Settimo Vittone, Donato, Nomaglio, Bo ...

( TO) and another from San Carlo di

( BI); both of them converge on the southern ridge of the mountain.''Guida alle Alpi biellesi'', Giancarlo Regis e Renza Piana Regis, libreria Vittorio Giovannacci, Biella 1981 Near the mountain's summit, at 2,312 m, there is a permanent mountain hut, the ''Rifugio Mombarone''.

Maps

* Italian official cartography (''

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.

'' - IGM); on-line version
www.pcn.minambiente.it
* Provincia di Biella cartography: ''Carta dei sentieri della Provincia di Biella'', 1:25.00 scale, 2004; on line version:
webgis.provincia.biella.it

References

{{Portal, Geography, Mountains
Mombarone Mombarone Two-thousanders of Italy Graglia