Monte Emilius (french: Mont Émilius) (3,559 m) is a mountain of the

Graian Alps The Graian Alps (french: Alpes grées ; it, Alpi Graie ) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. Etymology The name ''Graie'' comes from the ''Graioceli'' Celtic tribe, which dwelled in the area surrounding the Mont Cenis pass and ...

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

, north-western Italy. Located just above the town of

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest ...

, from where it is visible looking southwards behind the lower

Becca di Nona Becca di Nona (french: Pic de Nona) is a peak in the Graian Alps of the Aosta Valley in north-western Italy. Together with Monte Emilius, it is one of the main mountains visible from Aosta looking southwards. History This mountain was kno ...

, it is usually climbed starting from the ski resort of

Pila Pila may refer to: Architecture * Pila (architecture), a type of veranda in Sri Lankan farm houses Places *Pila, Buenos Aires, a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina *Pila Partido, a country subdivision in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina * ...

, at a height of 1,870 m.

History

This mountain was formerly known as ''Pic de dix heures'', meaning "10 a.m. peak" in French, as the sun stands right on top of it at 10am, or even as Pic Chamosser or Pic Chamoisier. In 1839 the canon Georges Carrel climbed the peak with a 14-year-old girl named Émilie Argentier, the sister of the mountaineer and doctor Auguste Argentier (1830-1874) from

Cogne Cogne (, ; Issime wae, Kunji) is a town and '' comune'' (municipality) in Aosta Valley, northern Italy, with 1369 inhabitants, as of 2017. Geography Cogne is located in the valley with the same name along a stream known as the Torrent Gran ...

, in order to promote mountaineering. The peak was thus named after her. Aostan canons thought about naming it ''Pic Pie'' in honour of Pope Pius IX, but decided against it as ''Pie'' in French means

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is on ...

Ascent

A marked path from Pila usually takes one to the summit, past various lakes, with a bit of scrambling involved. The view from the top includes famous peaks such as

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

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 ...

, the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of th ...

and

Grand Combin The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of the summit of ''Combin de Grafeneire'' is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Gran ...

References

Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Aosta Valley {{Aosta-geo-stub